Analysis of Chromosomal Aberrations and FLT3 gene Mutations in Childhood Acute Myelogenous Leukemia Patients

OBJECTIVE: To identify the well-known common translocations and FLT3 mutations in childhood acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) patients in Turkey. METHODS: The study included 50 newly diagnosed patients in which t(15;17), t(8;21), and inv(16) chromosomal translocations were identified using real-time PCR and FLT3 gene mutations were identified via direct PCR amplification PCR-RE analysis. RESULTS: In all, t(15;17) chromosomal aberrations were observed in 4 patients (8.0%), t(8;21) chromosomal aberrations were observed in 12 patients (24.0%), inv(16) chromosomal aberrations were observed in 3 patients (6.0%), and FLT3-ITD mutations were observed in 2 patients (4.0%); FLT3-D835 point mutation heterozygosity was observed in only 1 patient (2.0%) patient. CONCLUSION: Despite of the known literature, our case shows a better survival and this might be due to the complementation effect of the t(15;17) translocation. The lower mutation rate (4%) of FLT3 gene seems to be one of the first results for Turkish population.