Abstract
Genetic diagnosis is currently considered the most reliable method to accurately identify patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) requiring tailored therapy including all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA). We investigated the clinical effectiveness of immunofluorescence techniques with the anti-PML monoclonal antibody PG-M3 for rapid and accurate diagnosis of APL. PML immunofluorescence staining was analyzed in 164 patients with acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML), including APL (110 patients) and non-APL subtypes (54 patients). All 54 patients with an AML phenotype, in whom tests for t(15;17) or its fusion gene PML/RARα were negative, showed a speckled (macrogranular) nuclear pattern. Of the 110 genetically diagnosed APL patients, 108 showed a microgranular pattern that confirmed PG-M3 positivity. The remaining two patients were not evaluable for PG-M3 reactivity because of scarcity of cells. No patient with APL showed a normal pattern. The high sensitivity and specificity of immunolabeling using PG-M3 monoclonal antibody show that it is a highly efficient and reliable tool to identify PML/RARα-positive patients with APL and that it should be standardized as a first-line diagnostic procedure. In addition, it is technically simple, fast, and cheap, only requiring small tissue samples and non-sophisticated equipment.
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The authors thank all the Spanish institutions that contributed to this study by sending diagnostic samples.
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Gomis, F., Sanz, J., Sempere, A. et al. Immunofluorescent analysis with the anti-PML monoclonal antibody PG-M3 for rapid and accurate genetic diagnosis of acute promyelocytic leukemia. Ann Hematol 83, 687–690 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00277-004-0902-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00277-004-0902-7