The invention relates to kits and methods for panhandle PCR amplification of a region of DNA having an unknown nucleotide sequence, wherein the region flanks a region of a leukemia-associated gene having a known nucleotide sequence in a human patient. Amplification of an unknown region flanking a known region of a leukemia-associated gene permits identification of a translocation partner of the gene or identification of a duplicated sequence within the gene. The invention further relates to kits useful for performing the methods of the invention, to an isolated polynucleotide, and to primers derived from such an isolated polynucleotide.