In this work, we describe the advantages of multiplex-PCR in the specific detection of BCR-ABL transcripts in different hematological disorders and its sensitivity compared to nested PCR. Fifty-three patients were studied for the presence of BCR-ABL transcripts: 24 patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), 20 with acute leukemia (AL), and 9 patients with other hematological disorders. A variant rearrangement (b3a3) was found in a single case of CML (4.2%). Four out of the 20 patients with AL (20.0%) (14 adults, 6 children) were bcr-abl(+), and in this group three cases were classified as B-acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL), and one as acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML). Two of the three patients with B-ALL were positive for b2a2 and the other one for e1a2, while in the BCR-ABL(+)AML patients a b3a2 rearrangement was observed. In conclusion, multiplex-PCR allows rapid, specific and simultaneous detection of different types of BCR-ABL transcripts in CML and ABL-BCR(+)AL. A full correlation was observed when multiplex-PCR was compared with nested PCR.

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Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the most common type of adult leukemia in the western hemisphere. It is characterized by a clonal proliferation of a population of CD5+ B lymphocytes that accumulate in the secondary lymphoid tissues, bone marrow, and blood. Some CLL patients remain free of symptoms for decades, whereas others rapidly become symptomatic or develop high-risk disease. Studying autophagy, which may modulate key protein expression and cell survival, may be important to the search for novel prognostic factors and molecules. Here, we applied flow cytometry technology to simultaneously detect autophagy protein LC3B with classical phenotypical markers used for the identification of tumoral CLL B cell clones. We found that two patients with progressing CLL showed increased expression of the autophagy protein LC3B, in addition to positive expression of CD38 and ZAP70 and unmutated status of IGHV. Our data suggest that activation of autophagy flux may correlate with CLL progression even before Ibrutinib treatment.