The sensitivity of the FLT3-ITD detection method is an important consideration when diagnosing acute myeloid leukemia
Masahiro Sakaguchi, Nana Nakajima, Hiroki Yamaguchi, Yuho Najima, Katsuhiro Shono, Atsushi Marumo, Ikuko Omori, Yusuke Fujiwara, Kazuki Terada, Shunsuke Yui, Satoshi Wakita, Miho Mitaya, Kunihito Arai, Tomoaki Kitano, Noriko Doki, Kazuteru Ohashi, Koiti Inokuchi
Abstract
Fms-like tyrosine kinase 3-internal tandem duplication (FLT3-ITD) is a key predictive factor for the prognosis of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). We compared the detection sensitivity of fragment analysis with that of PCR-electrophoresis using MV4-11 (FLT3-ITD) and NKM-1 (FLT3-wild type) cell lines. DNA of these cells was mixed at different ratios and subjected to PCR-electrophoresis or fragment analysis. PCR-electrophoresis was found to have an FLT3-ITD allelic ratio (AR) detection limit of 0.034–0.072. Visual inspection of the PCR-electrophoresis revealed a lower detection sensitivity than that of fragment analysis. Therefore, it is essential to conduct fragment analysis when screening for FLT3-ITD.