title: Low expression of circulating microRNA-328 is associated with poor prognosis in patients with acute myeloid leukemia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Dysregulation of circulating miR-328 has been identified in several tumors and is associated with prognosis of patients. However, the expression pattern of miR-328 and the impact on prognosis has not yet been studied in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The purpose of this study is to investigate the expression status of miR-328 and its clinical significance in AML patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  RNA was extracted from plasma of 176 patients with newly diagnosed AML and 70 healthy volunteers. The miR-328 expression was examined by Realtime quantitative PCR. The association of circulating miR-328 expression with clinicopathological factors and prognosis of AML patients was statistically analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The expression of miR-328 was significantly downregulated in AML patients (median value 22.99, range: 3.63-242.0) compared with those of healthy controls (median value 89.17, range: 12.05-397.7; P < 0.001), and miR-328 expression was markedly increased in patients after treatment than before (23.40 ± 1.76 vs. 46.61 ± 3.83, P < 0.001). Moreover, low levels of miR-328 were associated with a higher white blood cell count and BM blast count (P = 0.026 and P = 0.003, respectively), and lower hemoglobin and platelet count (P = 0.004 and P = 0.022, respectively). Patients with low miR-328 expression had a relatively poor overall survival (P = 0.022) and shorter relapse-free survival (P = 0.008) than those with high miR-328 expression. In addition, low miR-328 expression was an independent prognostic factors for both OS (P = 0.017) and RFS (P = 0.023).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Circulating miR-328 downregulation is a common event and is associated with poor clinical outcome in AML patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Haematology, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, No.1, Xinsi Road, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710038, People's Republic of China. lliu6699@126.com.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Haematology, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, No.1, Xinsi Road, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710038, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Ren'an
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Haematology, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, No.1, Xinsi Road, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710038, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yangping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Haematology, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, No.1, Xinsi Road, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710038, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Department of Haematology, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, No.1, Xinsi Road, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710038, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: Department of Haematology, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, No.1, Xinsi Road, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710038, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xueqian
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D018450:Disease Progression; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D015536:Down-Regulation; D005260:Female; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D015470:Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008297:Male; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010976:Platelet Count; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012307:Risk Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D006454:Hemoglobins; C548170:MIRN328 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs