Acute leukemia is the most common malignancy in children, being mostly produced by such chromosomal abnormalities as translocations or inversions causing gene fusion. Different clinical studies showed that translocations identified in ALL (acute lymphoblastic leukemia) and AML (acute myeloblastic leukemia) may be used to classify patients into risk groups.
Aim: To detect three fusion genes that have been proven very important in patient classification: t(9:22)p190, t(4:11) and t(12:21).
Material and method: We conducted a prospective study on 30 patients with acute leukemia diagnosed in the interval September 2009 - September 2010 at the Iasi Hemato-Oncology Unit of Saint Mary Hospital for Children.
Results: We found t(9:22)p190 in two patients, t(4:11) in two patients and t(12:21) in one patient. From the total of 30 patients, 7 were considered at high-risk, 3 were diagnosed with AML, and 20 were considered at standard-risk.
Conclusions: Day 33 can still be considered the reference time in the evaluation of treatment response; patients with BCR-ABL seem to have a worse prognosis than those who do not have this translocation. The detection of fusion genes is very important in patient classification.