BACKGROUND Detecting an ALK fusion gene in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) could provide evidence to guide individualized therapy. METHODS The 5'/3' imbalance strategy for quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (RT-qPCR) was developed to detect ALK fusion genes in circulating tumor RNA (ctRNA) of NSCLC patients. RESULTS This method was validated in patients with the ALK fus...

The AML1/ETO fusion transcript is expressed in virtually all patients with t(8;21) (q22;q22) acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The fusion transcript can be detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in most of these patients in long-term complete remission (CR) following conventional chemotherapy or autologous bone marrow transplantation (BMT). However, AML1/ETO expression...

The reciprocal translocation t(17;22)(q22;q13) and a supernumerary ring chromosome, r(17;22), derived from the translocation, have been shown to be highly characteristic of dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP). Its consequence is a fusion of two genes, a collagen type I alpha 1 gene (COL1A1) and platelet-derived growth factor B-chain gene (PDGFB). The COL1A1-PDGFB fusion gene, is expected to ...

BACKGROUND Known as solid tumors of intermediate malignant potential, most inflammatory myofibroblastic tumors (IMTs) are treatable as long as the tumor is en-bloc resected. However, in some cases, the tumors have recurred and grown rapidly after successful surgery. Some of these tumors were classified as an epithelioid inflammatory myofibroblastic sarcoma (EIMS). Most previously reported EIMSs...

OBJECTIVES Histological tissues are preferred for anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) fusion detection in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of cytological sample as an alternative specimen for ALK fusion testing in patients with advanced NSCLC. MATERIALS AND METHODS Advanced NSCLC patients with cytological specimens or tumor tissue who had ...

Background: Polymorphic bases in several exons of the BCR gene have been found in several studies of the BCR-ABL fusion gene . Most of the polymorphisms do not have any implications for the primary structure of the BCR-ABL protein. Nucleotide changes are often located in the area close to the fusion region, and therefore may influence primer annealing. Our previous work failed to amplify 15 of ...

More than 95% of patients with detected translocation t(9;22), is characterized by the fusion between exons e13 or e14 of BCR gene, which are located in major breakpoint cluster region (M-bcr) and exon a2 of ABL gene. These fusions are described as b2a2 (e13a2) and b3a2 (e14a2). Other fusions of exons e1, e6, e8, e12, e19, e20 of BCR gene with exons a2 or a3 of ABL gene occur very rarely and le...

Dear Editor, Rearrangements involving mixed lineage leukemia (MLL) are common chromosome aberrations in infant, pediatric and adult acute leukemia, which are generally associated with poor prognosis. To date, more than 79 partner genes have been identified [1]. MLL fusion partners can be classified into four groups: nuclear proteins (MLLT3, MLLT10, and MLLT1), cytoplasmatic proteins (GAS7, SH3G...

BACKGROUND Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) rearrangements define a subgroup of lung cancer which is eligible to targeted kinase inhibition. The aim of this study is to observe the incidence rate of ALK fusion in a large cohort of Chinese digestive tract cancer patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS Tissue microarray (TMA) was constructed from 808 digestive tract cancer cases, including 169 esophagea...