Background: Current guidelines for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) management include utilization of both conventional cytogenetics as well as advance molecular analysis at diagnosis and while monitoring the therapy. The reason being the fact that karyotype analysis is one of the indispensable tools for identification of additional chromosomal abnormalities of prognostic significance. Methodology: We conducted a descriptive case-series study of 33 patients to demonstrate the profile of karyotype abnormalities in CML. Results: 75.7% of patients had a single Philadelphia chromosome (Ph), while in addition to Ph, one patient had t (11;17), one patient had t (7;14), one patient had 5q deletion, one patient had double Ph and one patient had a complex karyotype with 6q deletion, monosomy 11, monosomy 12 and marker chromosome. Two patients with pathognomonic clinical feature of CML had normal karyotype and thus were advised to proceed with further molecular studies, since they showed significant clinical improvement with tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy. Conclusion: Detection of additional chromosomal abnormalities in CML patients is a key to identification of patients requiring advance therapeutic modalities other than the conventional tyrosine kinase targeting agents. This is true both at diagnosis as well as during the tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy.

Karyotypic, Chronic myeloid leukaemia, Tertiary level, Afghanistan