Fusion Oncogenes in Pakistani Pediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Patients

The incidence of acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) is not uniform around the world. It varies from 0.9-4.7 per 100,000 children per year (Zhang et al., 2011).The 1Hematology, Oncology and Pharmacogenetic Engineering Sciences (HOPES) Group, Health Sciences Laboratories, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Department of Zoology, University of the Punjab, 9Centre for Advanced Molecular Biology & National Centre of Excellence in Molecular Biology, 10Post Graduate Medical Institute & Institute of Child Health, 12Department of Oncology, Allama Iqbal Medical College and Jinnah Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan, 13University of Health Sciences, Lahore, 8School of Biological Sciences, University of Sargodha, Sargodha, 14Department of Oncology, Punjab Medical College and Allied Hospital, Faisalabad,15Department of Biotechnology and Informatics, (BUITEMS), Quetta. Pakistan, 2Molecular Clinical Hematology/Oncology Research Laboratory, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University of Health Sciences, National Guards Health Affairs, Riyadh, 3Hematology/Oncology Division, Department of Medicine, 4Mircobiology Section, 7Biochemistry Research Section, 11Embryonic Stem Cell Unit, Department of Anatomy, College of Medicine and King Khalid University Hospital, King Saud University, Riyadh, 5Centre of Excellence in Genomic Medicine Research, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 6Montefiore Medical Centre, 111 East 210th Street, Bronx, NY, 16Health Centre, University of Texas San Antonio, San Antonio, USA, 17Asian Medical Institute Kant & National Surgical Centre Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan &Equal contributors *For correspondence: [email protected] Abstract