Background: Philadelphia-chromosome positive acute myeloid leukemia (Ph+ AML) is a rare entity and patient prognosis is poor, with short median survival. Biphenotypic acute leukemia (BAL) is a rare disorder that is difficult to diagnose and it displays features of both myeloid and lymphoid lineage. The aim of this study was to highlight the incidence of Philadelphia chromosome and its presence in cases of acute myeloid and biphenotypic leukemia and determine its role in the outcome of these leukemias.
Subjects and methods: This study examined 464 subjects with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia: 312 were males and 152 were females. All individuals were subjected to immunophenotyping and conventional karyotyping. FISH was used in failed cases of conventional cytogenetics analysis to quantify disease and to prove positive BCR-ABL fusion gene.
Results: the incidence of Ph+ chromosome was found to be higher in BAL (38.4%) than in AML (1.99%). There was statistically significant difference according to the age and the median survival time between the two groups.
Conclusion: Detection of specific chimeric transcripts in AML and BAL at the time of diagnosis was crucial since it plays an important role for accurate risk stratification and treatment management.
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