Leithy, A. E. A., Y. M. Bakr, N. M. Hassan, K. T. Dardeer, M. Assem, and A. H. A. A. Wahab, "PTCSC3, XIST, GAS5, UCA1, and HIFAL: Five lncRNAs Emerging as Potential Prognostic Players in Egyptian Adult Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) Patients.", Cancer control : journal of the Moffitt Cancer Center, vol. 31, pp. 10732748241309044, 2024. Abstract

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: So far, long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) signatures in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) are poorly understood. The present study aims to explore the prognostic significance of eleven cancer-related lncRNAs in bone marrow (BM) samples from adult Egyptian AML patients.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, we analyzed eleven lncRNAs using the qRT-PCR assay in the bone marrow (BM) of 79 de novo AML adult patients before receiving any therapy.

RESULTS: Five lncRNAs out of 11 were aberrantly expressed, and two lncRNAs influenced significantly the patient's overall survival (OS). LncRNA-XIST was favorable when overexpressed (in univariate and multivariate analysis, -value = .001). LncRNA-GAS5 adversely affected the OS (only in multivariate analysis -value = .02). Two other lncRNAs (UCA1 and HIFAL) impacted complete remission induction (CR) significantly in univariate analysis (-value = .046 for both). Furthermore, lncRNA-UCA1 affected CR significantly in multivariate COX regression analysis (-value = .004). The 4 previously mentioned lncRNAs were among the 9 downregulated lncRNAs. Instead, the only 2 upregulated lncRNAs (SNHG15, MALAT1) did not significantly influence neither CR induction nor OS. LncRNA-PTCSC3, a fifth lncRNA, emerged as the only one that could predict relapse occurrence in an upfront original BM sample.

CONCLUSION: Two lncRNAs out of eleven (lncRNA-XIST and GAS5) impacted OS, and two other lncRNAs (UCA1 and HIFAL) affected CR in adult de novo AML patients. LncRNA-PTCSC3 predict relapse, however, further validation is still required.

Abdelrahman, A. M. N., M. A. E. - A. M. Zidan, M. S. Abdellateif, O. S. E. D. Awad, and N. M. Hassan, "Prognostic impact of inhibitors of DNA binding proteins1 and inhibitors of DNA binding proteins4 genes expression on adult Egyptian patients with acute myeloid leukemia", Egyptian Journal of Haematology, vol. 49, issue No. 2, April-June 2024, pp. 147-155, 2024.
Abdellateif, M. S., N. M. Hassan, M. M. Kamel, and Y. M. El-Meligui, "Bone marrow microRNA-34a is a good indicator for response to treatment in acute myeloid leukemia.", Oncology research, vol. 32, issue 3, pp. 577-584, 2024. Abstract

BACKGROUND: microRNA-34a (miR-34a) had been reported to have a diagnostic role in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). However, its value in the bone marrow (BM) of AML patients, in addition to its role in response to therapy is still unclear. The current study was designed to assess the diagnostic, prognostic, and predictive significance of miR-34a in the BM of AML patients.

METHODS: The miR-34a was assessed in BM aspirate of 82 AML patients in relation to 12 normal control subjects using qRT-PCR. The data were assessed for correlation with the relevant clinical criteria, response to therapy, disease-free survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS) rates.

RESULTS: miR-34a was significantly downregulated in AML patients [0.005 (3.3 × 10-1.32)], compared to the control subjects [0.108 (3.2 × 10-1.64), ]. The median relative quantification (RQ) of miR-34a was 0.106 (range; 0-32.12). The specificity, sensitivity, and area under the curve (AUC) for the diagnosis of AML were (, , , respectively, ). patients with upregulated miR-34a showed decreased platelets count <34.5 × 10/L, and achieved early complete remission CR, , , respectively. Similarly, patients who were refractory to therapy showed decreased miR-34a levels in comparison to those who achieved CR [0.002 (0-0.01) and 0.12 (0-32.12), respectively, ]. Therefore, miR-34a could significantly identify patients with CR with a specificity of 75% and sensitivity of 100% at a cut-off of 0.014 (AUC = 0.927, There was no considerable association between miR-34a expression and survival rates of the included AML patients.

CONCLUSION: miR-34a could be a beneficial diagnostic biomarker for AML patients. In addition, it serves as a good indicator for response to therapy, which could possibly identify patients who are refractory to treatment with 100% sensitivity and 75% specificity.