MLL gene rearrangements in infant leukemia vary with age at diagnosis and selected demographic factors: a Children's Oncology Group (COG) study

Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2012 Jun;58(6):836-9. doi: 10.1002/pbc.23274. Epub 2011 Jul 28.

Abstract

Background: Infant leukemias have a high frequency of mixed lineage leukemia (MLL) gene rearrangements.

Procedure: Using data from a large etiologic study, we evaluated the distribution of selected demographic factors among 374 infant leukemia cases by leukemic subtype, MLL status and diagnosis age.

Results: Overall, 228 cases were MLL+. Compared to white infants, black infants were significantly less likely to have MLL+ leukemia. Further, there was a statistically significantly higher age at diagnosis for infants with t(9;11) translocations compared to all other translocation partners in both acute lymphoblastic leukemia and acute myeloid leukemia cases.

Conclusion: These patterns may provide important etiological insight into the biology of infant leukemia.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Age Distribution
  • Age of Onset
  • Female
  • Gene Rearrangement
  • Histone-Lysine N-Methyltransferase
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Kaplan-Meier Estimate
  • Leukemia / epidemiology*
  • Leukemia / genetics*
  • Male
  • Myeloid-Lymphoid Leukemia Protein / genetics*
  • Sex Distribution

Substances

  • KMT2A protein, human
  • Myeloid-Lymphoid Leukemia Protein
  • Histone-Lysine N-Methyltransferase