Real-time quantification assay to monitor BCR-ABL1 transcripts in chronic myeloid leukemia.

The BCR-ABL1 fusion gene, the causative lesion of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in >95 % of newly presenting patients, offers both a therapeutic and diagnostic target. Reverse-transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction technology (RT-qPCR), utilizing primer-probe combinations directed to exons flanking the breakpoint junctional region, offers very high levels of both specificity and sensitivity, in a scalable, robust, and cost-effective assay.