Real time-PCR a diagnostic tool for reporting copy number variation and relative gene-expression changes in pediatric B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia-a pilot study.

Real time-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is used routinely in clinical practice as a cost-effective method for molecular diagnostics. Research in pediatric B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ped B-ALL) suggests that apart from cytogenetics and clinical features, there is a need to include Copy number variation (CNV) in select genes at diagnosis, for upfront stratification of patients. Using ped B-ALL as a model, we have developed a RT-PCR-based iterative probability scoring method for reporting CNVs, and relative gene-expression changes.