Screening for the P2RY8-CRLF2 fusion gene in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia

Childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) is a heterogeneous disease characterized by a variety of genetic aberrations. Recently, a novel chromosomal rearrangement between P2RY8 and CRLF2 has been described in B-cell precursor (BCP) ALL. The P2RY8-CRLF2 fusion has been implicated in leukaemia development and appears to be associated with poor treatment outcome. In order to confirm the relevance of P2RY8-CRLF2 in childhood BCP-ALL, we screened consecutively recruited patients from the Austrian ALL BFM 2000 protocol. While all other studies relied on CRLF2 expression, RT-PCR or FISH for the detection of the ge…