RAR-alpha gene rearrangements as a genetic marker for diagnosis and monitoring in acute promyelocytic leukemia.

Acute promyelocytic leukemias (APLs) are characterized by a translocation that involves chromosomes 15 and 17. The translocation breakpoints have recently been identified and shown to involve the RAR-alpha gene on 17 and myl on 15. Here we report Southern blotting analysis of 26 APLs, including cases with normal karyotypes and atypical morphology, which showed RAR-alpha rearrangements in 92% cases, myl rearrangements in 73%, and either RAR-alpha or myl rearrangements in 100%. Despite a negative clinical and morphologic picture, DNA rearrangement analysis showed that neoplastic promyelocytes persisted in the bone marrow of two patients sampled after induction chemotherapy. Therefore, the RAR-alpha and myl rearrangements provide molecular markers for accurately diagnosing APLs and monitoring the course of the disease during and after chemotherapy.