Background: Wilms Tumor 1 (WT1) and Survivin genes are important leukemia-associated antigens (LAAs) in AML with potential prognostic impact.
Methods: We investigated WT1 and Survivin expression levels by RT-PCR in 61 AML patients in correlation with clinical characteristics and outcomes.
Results: WT1 was overexpressed in 45 patients (73.8%), associated with higher BM blasts (p = 0.017), lower incidence of favorable-prognosis cytogenetics (p = 0.035), and higher incidence of Flt3-ITD mutations (p = 0.026). Survivin was overexpressed in 17 patients (27.9%) with higher mean WBC count (p = 0.049). Patients with overexpression of either gene showed inferior complete remission (CR) rates and survival rates, patients with overexpression of both genes showed higher mean WBCs (p = 0.035) and higher BM blasts (p = 0.029) while the double negative group showed higher incidence of favorable cytogenetic events (p = 0.021), better CR rates and survival rates.
Conclusions: Our findings support the introduced prognostic impact of WT1 and Survivin genes in AML patients and its potential use in MRD monitoring and immunotherapy.