BCR-ABL DERIVED PEPTIDE VACCINES FOR CHRONIC MYELOID LEUKAEMIA

Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) is a myeloproliferative pluripotent stem cell disorder characterized by the presence of a cytogenetic hallmark, the Philadelphia (Ph) chromosome, and accounts for 15% of adult leukemias. The disease progresses from a chronic phase through an accelerated phase to a blast phase and its natural course accounts for a median 4 years survival1. The Ph chromosome is derived by a reciprocal translocation termed t(9;22) in which the c-abl oncogene has moved from chromosome 9 into the breakpoint cluster region (bcr), within the bcr gene on chromosome 22, resulting in a chimeric bcr-abl fusion gene that encodes a 210 KD protein (p210) with constitutive tyrosine kinase activity. Two major alternative chimeric p210 can result from this fusion gene: p210-b2a2 where the junction occurs between bcr exon 2 (b2) and abl exon 2 (a2) and p210-b3a2 where the the junction occurs between bcr exon 3 (b3) and abl exon 2 (a2. About 40% of CML patients harbor the p210-b2a2 and about 60% of them show the p210-b3a2.