BioProject

Although clinical features, cytogenetics, and mutations are widely used to predict prognosis in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), further refinement of risk stratification is necessary for optimal treatment, especially in cytogenetically normal (CN) patients. We sought to generate a simple gene expression signature as a predictor of clinical outcome through analyzing the mRNA arrays of de novo CN-AML patients. Among 43 treatment response-related genes, expression of 11 genes was significantly associated with overall survival (OS) in univariate Cox regression analysis in 104 patients who received standard intensive chemotherapy. We integrated the z-transformed expression levels of these 11 genes to generate a risk scoring system. Higher risk scores were significantly associated with shorter OS (median 17.0 months vs. not reached, P<0.001) in ours and 3 other validation cohorts. In conclusion, we developed a simple mRNA expression signature for prognostication in CN-AML patients. This prognostic biomarker will help refine the treatment strategies for this group of patients. Overall design: Cryopreserved bone marrow cells were obtained from 104 de novo AML patients with normal karyotype. Each sample was analyzed with Illumina HumanHT-12 V4.0 expression beadchip.