Rapid and sensitive non-radioactive assay for the detection of clonal gene rearrangements in B-lineage acute leukaemia.

We have applied a simple and non-radioactive assay system used in conjunction with polymerase chain reaction amplification and high-resolution polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis to detect clonal immunoglobulin gene rearrangements in leukaemia patient DNA. This technique is as sensitive as isotopic methods, allowing the detection of clonal DNA diluted 1 in 10,000 in non-clonal DNA.