These data suggest that N-ras gene mutations may be involved in the pathogenesis and/or prognosis of JCML and provide further evidence that JCML is an entity distinct from CML.
A mutant human N-ras gene (codon 61, C to A substitution) was electroporated into the human leukemic cell line K562, originally derived from a patient with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in blast crisis.
The relative frequencies of N-RAS gene mutations in these hematologic disorders was as follows: acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), 15%; acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), 14%; myelodysplastic syndromes, 24%; and myeloid and lymphoid blast crisis of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), 3%.