No association between BCR-ABL1 fusion genes and clinical features of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in Ghanaian patients

INTRODUCTION: The BCR-ABL1 fusion gene has been associated with poor prognosis in acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). This study was designed to determine the presence, frequency and associated laboratory and clinical features of the BCR-ABL1 gene in Ghanaian patients diagnosed with ALL. METHODS: this was a cross-sectional study using archival methanol-fixed bone marrow aspirate slides of morphologically diagnosed ALL patients. Presence of the BCR-ABL1fusion gene was determined by fluorescent in situ hybridization. Clinical features and haematological parameters were extracted from the patients’ medical records. RESULTS: seventeen patients were studied, 13 (76.5%) males and 4 (23.5%) females. Median age was 24 years (range 15 to 67 years). A frequency of 29.4% was obtained for the BCR-ABL1 fusion gene. There was no significant association between presence of BCR-ABL1 and selected clinical features (lymphadenopathy, splenomegaly and hepatomegaly). All patients had moderate to severe anaemia with median haemoglobin concentration of 7.6 g/dL (range 3.7 to 8.7 g/dL). Median haemoglobin concentration for BCR-ABL1 positive patients was higher than that for negative patients (7.6 vs. 7.4 g/dL, p = 0.506); who also had higher median white blood cell counts (24.76 vs. 13.02 X 109/L), but lower median platelet counts (58.0 vs. 64.5 X 109/L, p = 0.721) and bone marrow blast percentages (78.5 vs. 98.0 %, p = 0.851) compared to negative patients. Conclusion: BCR-ABL1 fusion gene was detected in nearly one third of adult ALL patients in this study, with no significant association with common haematological parameters and clinical features of the disease.