engleski

Analysis of telomere length in chronic myelogenous leukemia

The aim of this study was to determine whether a reduction in telomere length is associated with disease progression in chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). We have studied telomere length in the peripheral blood leukocyte samples of a large group of patients with CML by Southern blot hybridization using the (TTAGGG)4 probe. Serial measurements on a subset of patients were performed. The average telomere length expressed as the peak telomere repeat array (TRA) in the peripheral blood samples obtained from a group of 20 healthy age-matched controls (21­69 years old, mean age 45) ranged between 7.6 and 11.5 kb (mean peak TRA 9.2 kb). 44 patients in the chronic phase of CML were studied; 31/44 (70%) showed telomere reduction (<7.6 kb) relative to age-matched controls and the mean peak TRA was 6.4 kb (range 4.0­10.6 kb). Serial samples were analysed from 12 patients at both chronic phase (CP) and accelerated phase (AC) and/or blast crisis (BC). 12/12 (100%) in accelerated phase and/or blast crisis showed telomere reduction relative to age matched controls and the mean peak TRA was 4.1 kb (range 3.0­5.4 kb). These data demonstrate that there is a marked reduction in the mean peak TRA in accelerated or blast phase CML as compared to chronic phase. Case number123456789101112CP6.44.05.64.57.06.37.55.94.85.54.17.1AC/BC3.13.24.83.05.24.75.44.43.93.33.65.0 In the serial study we found that the peak TRA in the accelerated or blast phase was reduced compared to the corresponding paired sample in the chronic phase in all cases studied (see table). These data show that a marked reduction in telomere length is associated with disease progression in CML; this phenomenon may represent a valuable marker for monitoring disease evolution.

telomere; chronic myelogenous leukaemia; blasgic crisis

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