The expression level of ARF and p53 in AML patients, and their relation to patients' outcome

Abstract

Abstract Background Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a cancer of hematopoietic progenitors characterized by gene mutations. The most popular deregulations are mutation and altered expression in the p53 gene, which is considered the guardian of the genome. Its activity is controlled by regulatory genes, e.g., alternate open reading frame (ARF), whose defects could affect p53 activity. Aim To study the effect of altered expression of p53 and ARF genes in de novo AML patients and correlate the results to the patients’ characteristics and outcomes. Methods Expression levels of p53 and ARF were assessed in 96 AML adult patients compared to 20 healthy controls using quantitative reverse-transcription PCR (RT-qPCR). Results There was significant up-regulation of p53 [77.6 (3.8–9528.3)] compared to controls [1.031 (0.210–9.051)], p 50 (p = 0.05, p = 0.035, respectively).There were no significant statistical associations between DFS and p53, ARF, and FLT3 mutations. Conclusion The p53 and ARF genes are overexpressed in de novo AML patients and they are interrelated. low p53 overexpression is associated with APL phenotype and t(15;17) and patients with t(15;17) had slightly better survival than patients with negative t(15;17) (p = 0.061). AML patients with mutated NPM1 had better DFS than wild NPM1 (p = 0.045). p53 pathway regulation can occur by many alternative ways rather than gene mutation.

Keywords

• AML
• P53 gene
• ARF gene
• Gene expression