The analysis of rare chromosomal translocations in myeloproliferative disorders has highlighted the importance of aberrant tyrosine kinase signaling in the pathogenesis of these diseases. Here we have investigated samples from 679 patients and controls for the nonreceptor tyrosine kinase JAK2 V617F mutation. Of the 480 myeloproliferative disorder (MPD) samples, the proportion of positive cases per disease subtype was 30 (20%) of 152 for atypical or unclassified MPD, 2 of 134 (2%) for idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome, 58 of 72 (81%) for polycythemia vera, 24 of 59 (41%) essential thrombocythemia (ET), and 15 of 35 (43%) for idiopathic myelofibrosis. V617F was not identified in patients with systemic mastocytosis (n ‫؍‬ 28), chronic or acute myeloid leukemia (n ‫؍‬ 35), secondary erythrocytosis (n ‫؍‬ 4), or healthy controls (n ‫؍‬ 160). Homozygosity for V617F was seen in 43% of mutant samples and was closely correlated with chromosome 9p uniparental disomy. Homozygosity was significantly less common in ET compared with other MPD subtypes. In 53 cases analyzed, the median level of PRV1 expression was significantly higher in V617F-positive cases compared with cases without the mutation. We conclude that V617F is widespread in MPDs. IntroductionChronic myeloproliferative diseases (CMPDs) are clonal hematopoietic stem cell disorders characterized by proliferation of one or more myeloid cell lineages in the bone marrow and increased numbers of mature and immature cells in the peripheral blood. CMPDs include polycythemia vera (PV), essential thrombocythemia (ET), idiopathic myelofibrosis (IMF) and chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), plus rarer subtypes such as chronic neutrophilic leukemia (CNL), hypereosinophilic syndrome (HES), and chronic eosinophilic leukemia (CEL). These diseases overlap with myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative diseases (MDS/MPDs) such as atypical CML (aCML) and chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML), in which proliferation is accompanied by dysplastic features or ineffective hematopoiesis in other lineages. 1 We refer here broadly to all these groups as myeloproliferative disorders (MPDs).Although there are strict diagnostic criteria for MPD subtypes, precise categorization remains a subject of debate 2 and furthermore, it can be difficult to differentiate some cases from reactive disorders. Only CML is characterized by a pathognomonic molecular marker, the BCR-ABL fusion, and the primary abnormalities driving excess proliferation in most other cases have been obscure. However, several lines of evidence have implicated aberrant tyrosine kinase signaling as the root cause of MPDs. Breakpoint cluster region-abelson (BCR-ABL) itself is a constitutively active tyrosine kinase that is believed to be the primary, and probably the only, driving force behind chronic-phase CML. 3 Other gene fusions have been identified in rare cases of aCML, CMML, and HES/CEL that involve the tyrosine kinases PDGFRA, PDGFRB, FGFR1, and JAK2. 4,5 In addition, the KIT receptor is activated by point mutation in the majority...

Multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) is a recently described method for detecting gross deletions or duplications of DNA sequences, aberrations which are commonly overlooked by standard diagnostic analysis. To determine the incidence of copy number variants in cancer predisposition genes from families in the Wessex region, we have analysed the hMLH1 and hMSH2 genes in patients with hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC), BRCA1 and BRCA2 in families with hereditary breast/ovarian cancer (BRCA) and APC in patients with familial adenomatous polyposis coli (FAP). Hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (n ¼ 162) and FAP (n ¼ 74) probands were fully screened for small mutations, and cases for which no causative abnormality were found (HNPCC, n ¼ 122; FAP, n ¼ 24) were screened by MLPA. Complete or partial gene deletions were identified in seven cases for hMSH2 (5.7% of mutation-negative HNPCC; 4.3% of all HNPCC), no cases for hMLH1 and six cases for APC (25% of mutation negative FAP; 8% of all FAP). For BRCA1 and BRCA2, a partial mutation screen was performed and 136 mutation-negative cases were selected for MLPA. Five deletions and one duplication were found for BRCA1 (4.4% of mutation-negative BRCA cases) and one deletion for BRCA2 (0.7% of mutation-negative BRCA cases). Cost analysis indicates it is marginally more cost effective to perform MLPA prior to point mutation screening, but the main advantage gained by prescreening is a greatly reduced reporting time for the patients who are positive. These data demonstrate that dosage analysis is an essential component of genetic screening for cancer predisposition genes.

Fusion genes derived from the plateletderived growth factor receptor beta (PDG-FRB

Imatinib and recombinant interferon alpha (rIFN␣) can induce remission in polycythemia vera (PV) patients, but gauging the depth of responses has not been possible due to lack of a specific disease marker. We found that patients undergoing imatinib (n ‫؍‬ 14) or rIFN␣ (n ‫؍‬ 7) therapy remained strongly positive for V617F JAK2, although there was a significant reduction in the median percentage of mutant alleles that correlated with hematologic response (P ‫؍‬ .001). Furthermore, individuals who achieved complete hematologic remission had lower levels of V617F than those who did not (P ‫؍‬ .001). Of 9 imatinib-treated cases for whom pretreatment samples were available, 7 with no or partial hematologic responses showed a marginal increase (median, 1.2-fold; range, 1.0-1.5) in the percentage of V617F alleles on treatment, whereas the 2 patients who achieved complete hematologic remission showed a 2-to 3-fold reduction. Our data indicate that, although PV patients may benefit from imatinib or rIFN␣, molecular responses are relatively modest. (Blood. 2006;107: 3339-3341)

Idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome (IHES) is a disease that is difficult to classify, and diagnosis is one of exclusion. The identification of a cytogenetically invisible interstitial deletion resulting in the fusion of FIP1-Like-1 (FIP1L1) to platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha (PDGFRA) has enabled many IHES cases to be reclassified as chronic eosinophilic leukemia. As it is likely that PDGFRA may fuse to other partner genes, we established a reverse transcriptase-PCR test to detect specific overexpression of the PDGFRA kinase domain as an indicator of the presence of a fusion gene. Overexpression was detected in 12/12 FIP1L1-PDGFRA-positive patients, plus 9/217 (4%) patients with hypereosinophilia who had tested negative for FIP1L1-PDGFRA. One of the positive cases was investigated in detail and found to have a complex karyotype involving chromosomes 3, 4 and 10. Amplification of the genomic breakpoint by bubble PCR revealed a novel fusion between KIF5B at 10p11 and PDGFRA at 4q12. Imatinib, a known inhibitor of PDGFRa, produced a complete cytogenetic response and disappearance of the KIF5B-PDGFRA fusion by PCR, from both genomic DNA and mRNA. This study demonstrates the utility of screening for PDGFRA kinase domain overexpression in patients with IHES and has identified a third PDGFRA fusion partner in chronic myeloproliferative disorders.

SummaryWe identified two patients with a t(2;4)(p24;q12) and a t(4;12)(q2?3;p1?2), respectively, in association with BCR-ABL and FIP1L1-PDGFRA negative chronic eosinophilic leukaemia. Molecular analysis revealed a novel STRN-PDGFRA fusion for the t(2;4) and ETV6-PDGFRA for the t(4;12). The fusions were confirmed by specific amplification of the genomic breakpoints, reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and fluorescence in situ hybridisation. Both patients were treated with imatinib and, following a rapid haematological response, achieved cytogenetic remission and a major molecular response. In conclusion, PDGFRA fuses to diverse partner genes in myeloid disorders. Identification of these fusions is important as they are particularly sensitive to imatinib.

Chronic myeloproliferative disorders with rearrangements of the platelet-derived growth factor receptor A (PDGFRA) gene at chromosome band 4q12 have shown excellent responses to targeted therapy with imatinib. Here we report a female patient who presented with advanced phase of a chronic eosinophilic leukemia. Cytogenetic analysis revealed an ins(9;4)(q33;q12q25) in 5 of 21 metaphases. FISH analysis with flanking BAC probes indicated that PDGFRA was disrupted. A novel mRNA in-frame fusion between exon 13 of the CDK5 regulatory subunit associated protein 2 (CDK5RAP2) gene, a 40-bp insert that was partially derived from an inverted sequence stretch of PDGFRA intron 9, and a truncated PDGFRA exon 12 was identified by 5'-RACE-PCR. CDK5RAP2 encodes a protein that is believed to be involved in centrosomal regulation. The predicted CDK5RAP2-PDGFRA protein consists of 1,003 amino acids and retains both tyrosine kinase domains of PDGFRA and several potential dimerization domains of CDK5RAP2. Despite achieving complete cytogenetic and molecular remission on imatinib, the patient relapsed with imatinib-resistant acute myeloid leukemia that was characterized by a normal karyotype, absence of detectable CDK5RAP2-PDGFRA mRNA, and a newly acquired G12D NRAS mutation.

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