P210 and P190 BCR-ABL fusion transcripts variants frequencies among Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia in Sudan

Breakpoint cluster region-abelson (BCR-ABL) leukemic fusion gene types in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) correlate with the disease clinical course and outcome. There are variations in the reports of previous studies about the frequencies and distribution of BCR-ABL transcripts in chronic myelogenous leukaemia among Sudanese patients. This research aims to determine the frequencies of BCR-ABL fusion transcript variants in Sudan. One hundred (informed consent) Philadelphia positive chronic myeloid leukaemia patients, in chronic phase, were enrolled in this study. EDTA anticoagulated peripheral blood samples were collected from each participant, RNA was extracted from mononuclear cells by (TRIzol) reagent. BCR-ABL transcripts were detected by qRT-PCR technique with specific primers forP190 and P210 BCR-ABL transcript variants. The typical p210 BCR-ABL transcripts (b3a2 or b2a2) were detected in all patients (100%) the b3a2 transcript was detected in 96/100 (96%) and the b2a2 transcript was detected in 4/100 (4%).co-expression of p210/p190 (b2a3/e1a2) was detected in 6/100 (6%). p190 variant was not detected independently.