PAD was not associated with an increased prevalence of factor V G1691A, prothrombin G20210A, and MTHFR C677T mutations in the population studied. Thus, there is no indication that of one of these mutations may be a risk factor for chronic limb ischemia. However, the role of these mutations in acute limb ischemia remains to be clarified.

BackgroundCharacterization of novel fusion genes in acute leukemia is important for gaining information about leukemia genesis. We describe the characterization of a new ETV6 fusion gene in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) FAB M0 as a result of an uncommon translocation involving chromosomes 12 and 15.MethodsThe ETV6 locus at 12p13 was shown to be translocated and to constitute the 5' end of the fusion product by ETV6 break apart fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH). To identify a fusion partner 3' rapid amplification of cDNA-ends with polymerase chain reaction (RACE PCR) was performed followed by cloning and sequencing.ResultsThe NTRK3 gene on chromosome 15 was found to constitute the 3' end of the fusion gene and the underlying ETV6-NTRK3 rearrangement was verified by reverse transcriptase PCR. No RNA of the reciprocal NTRK3-ETV6 fusion gene could be detected.ConclusionWe have characterized a novel ETV6-NTRK3 fusion transcript which has not been previously described in AML FAB M0 by FISH and RACE PCR. ETV6-NTRK3 rearrangements have been described in secretory breast carcinoma and congenital fibrosarcoma.

SummaryIn the Austrian biodatabase for chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (ABCMML) clinicolaboratory real-life data have been captured from 606 CMML patients from 14 different hospitals over the last 30 years. It is the only large biodatabase worldwide in which functional methods such as semisolid in vitro cultures complement modern molecular methods such as next generation sequencing. This provides the possibility to comprehensively study the biology of CMML. The aim of this study was to compare patient characteristics with published CMML cohorts and to validate established prognostic parameters in order to examine if this real-life database can serve as a representative and useful data source for further research. After exclusion of patients in transformation characteristics of 531 patients were compared with published CMML cohorts. Median values for age, leukocytes, hemoglobin, platelets, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and circulating blasts were within the ranges of reported CMML series. Established prognostic parameters including leukocytes, hemoglobin, blasts and adverse cytogenetics were able to discriminate patients with different outcome. Myeloproliferative (MP) as compared to myelodysplastic (MD)-CMML patients had higher values for circulating blasts, LDH, RAS-pathway mutations and for spontaneous myelomonocytic colony growth in vitro as well as more often splenomegaly. This study demonstrates that the patient cohort of the ABCMML shares clinicolaboratory characteristics with reported CMML cohorts from other countries and confirms phenotypic and genotypic differences between MP-CMML and MD-CMML. Therefore, results obtained from molecular and biological analyses using material from the national cohort will also be applicable to other CMML series and thus may have a more general significance.

Intratumoral immune cells and ERCC1 expression are likely to play a role in the response of ovarian carcinoma to chemotherapy, but their impact on therapy outcome is still unclear. Therefore, 41 cases of optimally resected high grade serous ovarian carcinomas were examined retrospectively for stromal and intraepithelial lymphocyte populations and ERCC1 status in relation to response to platinum-based therapy. Based on RECIST criteria, 27 patients were classified as responsive and 14 as therapy resistant, respectively. Using immunohistochemistry for CD3, CD8, CD4, TIA1, MUM1 and FOX P3 on representative tumor sections, we quantitatively evaluated the intratumoral density of lymphocyte subpopulations. In addition, ERCC1 protein and mRNA expression were determined by immunohistochemistry using the Steffensen score and quantitative RT-PCR, respectively. Furthermore, ERCC1 SNP's C8092A and codon 118 were analysed. Response to chemotherapy was significantly associated with higher numbers of stromal CD3+ (mean 21.33 lymphocytes/HPF versus 8.21 lymphocytes/HPF, p = 0.002) and CD8+ lymphocytes (mean 9.22 lymphocytes/HPF versus 4.57 lymphocytes/HPF, p = 0.013). Counts of intraepithelial CD3+ and CD8+ lymphocytes, stromal and intraepithelial FOXP3+ and TIA1+ cells, CD4+ lymphocytes, and MUM1+ plasma cells did not reach statistical significance. Neither ERCC1 protein expression (p = 0.232) nor SNPs codon 118 and C8092A of the ERCC1 gene (p = 0.269 and p = 0.543) showed an association with therapy response. The same was true for ERCC1 mRNA levels (p = 0.896), probably due to intratumoral lymphocyte contamination. In conclusion, the density of CD3+ and CD8+ T-cells in tumor stroma proved to be a significant predictor for response to platinum-based therapy, whereas examination of ERCC1 failed to identify therapy-responsive patients.