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URL http://www.rockymountainbmt.com/news/Acute-myeloid-leukemia-was-associated-with-retroviral-gene-transfer-to-hematopoietic-progenitor-cells-in-a-rhesus-macaque-4076.html

Acute myeloid leukemia was associated with retroviral gene transfer to hematopoietic progenitor cells in a rhesus macaque

09-05-2006

According to scientists in the United States, "We report, for the first time, a replication-defective retroviral vector-associated neoplasia in a nonhuman primate. Five years after transplantation with CD34+ cells transduced with a retroviral vector expressing enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) and a drug-resistant variant of the dihydrofolate reductase gene (L22Y), a rhesus macaque developed a fatal myeloid sarcoma, a type of acute myeloid leukemia."

"Tumor cells contained two clonal vector insertions," said Ruth Seggewiss at the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and collaborators in the U.S. "One insertion was found in BCL2-A1, an anti-apoptotic gene. This event suggests that currently available retroviral vectors may have long-term side effects, particularly in hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells."

Seggewiss and her coauthors published their study in Blood (Acute myeloid leukemia is associated with retroviral gene transfer to hematopoietic progenitor cells in a rhesus macaque. Blood, 2006;107(10):3865-3867).

For additional information, contact Cynthia E. Dunbar, Hematology Branch, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Building 10, Clinical Research Center, Room 4-5140, 10 Center Drive, Mail Stop Code 1202, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-1202, USA. dunbarc@nhlbi.nih.gov.

This article was prepared by Hematology Week editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2006, Hematology Week via NewsRx.com.