PROGNOSTIC SIGNIFICANCE OF EXPRESSION OF SURVIVIN IN ACUTE LEUKEMIA

Leukemia, one of the most common cancer, is diagnosed via morphology and immunophenotype, and it抯 incidence continues to rise. Although bone marrow transplantation and combination chemo- therapy have improved the outcome, many patients do not achieve complete remission (CR) and they ultimately relapse. In particular, acute leukemia (AL) is associated with poor prognosis and often runs a fulminant course. Regulated programmed cell death (Apoptosis) maintains normal homeostasis and organ mor…

Prognostic significance of expression of survivin in acute leukemia

Objective: To investigate the expression of survivin gene and its significance in acute leukemia. Methods: The expression of surviving in 134 acute leukemia patients and 4 leukemia cell lines was detected by RT-PCR and immunofluorescence analysis. Results: We detected survivin expression in 78 of 134 acute leukemia patients and all the cell lines but not in normal controls and anemia patients. Survivin gene expression correlated with a lower white blood cell count, which was 11×10⁹/L and 48×10⁹/L in the positive and negative group respectively (P<0.01 by the Mann-Whitney test). In 55 cases of FAB M₁/M₂/M₃, it was associated with leukemic cell maturation(P<0.01 by the Fisher test). Survivin expression was strongly related to survival time of acute leukemia patients (P<0.05). Conclusion: These data suggest that survivin expression may be considered as a new unfavorable prognostic factor for acute leukemia due to its important role in apoptosis inhibition that influences disease outcome.