Molecular Characterization of Flt3 Mutation in Acute Leukemia

Background: Fms-like Tyrosine Kinase 3 (FLT3) has an important role to perform in hematopoietic malignancy pathogenesis. Hence the focus of several studies has recently been FLT3.

Objective: To determine the molecular characterization of FLT3 mutation in patients of acute leukemia.

Methodology: This descriptive analysis was carried out from January 2018 to December 2018 upon a sample of 94 newly diagnosed cases of acute leukemia (chosen via non-probability, consecutive sampling) presenting to the Department of Pathology, Liaquat University of Medical & Health Sciences, Jamshoro. After taking informed written consent, Data were obtained from laboratory records and patient interviews were noted down with the help of structured questionnaire. SPSS v. 20.0 was used for analysis of the obtained data.

Results: The mean age of participants was 41 years (±19 SD). 59.57% of the sample comprised of males while the remaining 40.43% were females. Among the total of 94 patients studied, patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) were 41 in number while those with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) were 53. The polymerase chain reaction verified FLT3 mutations in 6 (11.32%) out of 53 AML cases and 2 (4.88%) among 41 ALL cases. In acute myeloid leukemia (AML) FLT3 mutation was more prevalent among the older age set (51 and above), while in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) the FLT3 mutation was more commonly seen a comparatively younger patient age set (21 to 30 years).

Conclusion: It was found out that the FLT3 mutations are not uncommon in our study setting. With a greater prevalence observed among older male patients. AML was more common than ALL, with greater incidence rate of FLT3 mutations observed in the AML patients.