Aberrant expression of tumor suppressor genes and their association with chimeric oncogenes in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Aberrant expression of tumor suppressor genes WT1, RB1, p53, homozygous deletion of p16 gene and their relationship with expression of oncogenes BCR-ABL, TEL-AML1, MLL-AF4, E2A-PBX1, SIL-TAL1 were determined in bone marrow samples of children with de novo B-lineage (n = 170) and T-lineage (n = 25) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). In contrast to expression of chimeric oncogenes alterations in p16, WT1, RB1 and p53 expression were T/B-lineage-unrestricted. Significant association between expression of MLL-AF4 and WT1, E2A-PBX1 and p53; SIL-TAL1 and homozygous deletion of p16 has been demonstrated.