Patent ID: 7700279

Claim:
A method for detecting the presence of a major breakpoint and/or minor breakpoint bcr/abl translocation in a biological sample, comprising: (a) preparing a nucleic acid mixture comprising (i) RNA or cDNA from the biological sample; (ii) three or more oligonucleotide primers together capable of amplifying at least one major breakpoint bcr/abl translocation transcript and at least one minor breakpoint bcr/abl translocation transcript; (iii) a first oligonucleotide probe specific for the bcr region of the minor bcr/abl translocation transcript amplified by said primers; and, (iv) a second oligonucleotide probe specific for the bcr region of the major bcr/abl translocation transcript amplified by said primers, wherein the first and second probes are each labeled with a different detectable label; (b) conducting a multiplex amplification reaction with a DNA polymerase using the mixture; and (c) detecting hybridization of the first probe or the second probe to the amplification product of step (b), wherein hybridization of the first probe indicates the presence of a minor breakpoint bcr/abl translocation, and hybridization of the second probe indicates the presence of a major breakpoint bcr/abl translocation.