title: [Expression of WT1 gene in children with acute myeloid leukemia].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study WT1 gene expression in children with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and its possible correlations to clinical outcomes.
  
  
  METHODS
  Bone marrow samples were collected from 45 children with AML (excluding acute promyelocytic leukemia, AML-M3) at different time points of AML treatment and follow-up. WT1 gene expression levels in bone marrow mononuclear cells were assayed by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR. The correlation between WT1 expression and prognosis was retrospectively analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The WT1 expression level in AML children with bone marrow blast cell percentage of >60% was significantly higher than in those with bone marrow blast cell percentage of ≤ 60% (p<0.05). The lower WT1 expression level was documented in children with AML-M2 compared with in children with other non-M2 subtypes (p<0.05). WT1 expression level in patients in complete remission was significantly lower than that in patients at diagnosis or relapse (p<0.01). The 2-year disease-free survival (DFS) in patients with higher WT1 expression was significantly lower than in those with lower WT1 expression at the end of induction chemotherapy (p<0.05). The 2-year overall survival (OS) and DFS in patients with ≥1 log WT1 reduction range were significantly higher than those with <1 log reduction of WT1 expression level at the end of induction chemotherapy (p<0.05). WT1 expression levels tended to rise 2-3 months prior to bone marrow relapse.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  WT1 expression level is closely correlated prognosis in children with AML. Dynamic monitoring of WT1 expression level is of great clinical importance in terms of individualized management, prognosis evaluation and relapse prediction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University; Key Laboratory of Birth Defects and Related Diseases of Women and Children (Sichuan University), Ministry of Education, Chengdu 610041, China. gaoju651220@126.com.
authors.forename: Xue
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Xia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Xue
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.forename: Jing-Jing
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Li-Xing
authors.initials: LX
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Ju
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gao
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D015470:Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D012008:Recurrence; D025721:WT1 Proteins / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D025721:WT1 Proteins; C583751:WT1 protein, human