Introduction:

Mutations in the tyrosine kinase 3 gene (FLT3) are of special importance in acute myeloid leukemia because they serve as a guide to confirm the diagnosis, estimate the prognosis, and make therapeutic decisions in the patient. Internal tandem duplication (FLT3-ITD) is the most important alteration of this gene.

Objective:

To present the most relevant aspects regarding the FLT3-ITD biomarker in the context of acute myeloid leukemia.

Methods:

a search was carried out for updated scientific articles, in English and Spanish, in PubMed, EMBASE, Google Scholar and SciELO. Articles published in the last five years were selected. The most relevant aspects of the biomarker in the context of acute myeloid leukemia, its biological basis, the impact of the size of the fragments and the allelic load in the estimation of the prognosis of the patients, the new therapeutic strategies and the challenges in regarding the laboratory methods for its diagnosis.

Information analysis and synthesis:

Beyond the biomarker positivity or not, the size of the ITD, as well as the allelic ratio determined by the mutated allele / wild-type allele, could have a great impact on the prognosis of patients. However, differences persist in the criteria for establishing risk prediction algorithms, the cut-off point to be used as a reference, and the specific laboratory protocol for a more detailed study of the biomarker.

Conclusions:

The scientific community needs to continue working to clarify the practical utility of these parameters, validating them in broad and epidemiologically diverse series. The exact cut-off point should be determined as a reference to compare the relationship and standardize the most suitable and feasible laboratory methods for its study.

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