Analysis of age-specific cytogenetic changes among 515 patients withacute myeloid leukemia / 中华医学遗传学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To characterize cytogenetic changes and prognosis of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) from different age groups.@*METHODS@#The karyotypes of 515 AML patients were analyzed by using short-term culture of bone marrow cells and R-banding technique. Combined with FAB typing and genetic testing, cytogenetic changes and prognosis of different age groups were analyzed.@*RESULTS@#The abnormal cloning rate was 54.6% among the 515 patients. The abnormal cloning rate and adverse risk karyotype proportion of those with myeloproliferative syndromes (MDS) and secondary AML were higher than those with de novo AML (P = 0.027; P<0.01). A significant difference was found in the number of structural abnormalities and proportion of favorable risk karyotypes among different age groups (P = 0.026; P = 0.004). And there was also a significant difference in the abnormal cloning rate between different FAB types (P<0.01). In those with non-acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), the expression level of WT1 gene seemed to affect the prognosis. The survival rate of patients with karyotypes of adverse risk was lower than those with karyotypes of favorable risk (P = 0.015). The survival rate of the ≥60-year-old group was lower than the ≤30-year-old and 31 to 59-year-old groups (P<0.01, P<0.01).@*CONCLUSION@#The karyotypes of AML patients have different age distribution characteristics. The survival rate of ≥60-years-old group and karyotype of poor prognosis is low. Patients with MDS with secondary AML have a poor prognosis.

Detection of genomic abnormalities among 105 patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia using fluorescence in situ hybridization / 中华医学遗传学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To assess the value of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) for the detection of genomic abnormalities among patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Interphase FISH was performed on bone marrow samples derived from 105 patients with CLL at the time of diagnosis using probes for D13S319/13q14, ATM/11q22, P53/17p13 and CEP12. The abnormalities and prognostic factors were analyzed. Overall survival of the patients was calculated.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The FISH assay has detected genomic abnormalities in 81 (77.1%) of the patients, among which D13S319/13q14 deletion was the most common (49/105, 46.67%). 24(22.86%) patients had trisomy 12, 21(20.00%) had ATM/11q deletion, and 12(11.43%) had P53/17p deletion. A significant correlation was found between Binet staging and the detected abnormalities (< 0.05). With a median follow-up time of 10 months, 11 patients (10.5%) had died. Compared with those with P53 deletion, patients with 13q deletion showed a better overall survival. However, the overall survival did not significantly differ between patients with various genomic abnormalities (> 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>FISH is capable of detecting common genomic aberrations among patients with newly diagnosed CLL. Deletion of D13S319/13q14 is the most common aberration in such patients. Genomic aberrations are significantly correlated with Binet staging but not the overall survival of CLL patients.</p>

Clinical features and prognosis of acute myeloid leukemia with acquired trisomy 21 / 中华医学遗传学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To delineate the clinical features and prognostic significance of acquired trisomy 21 (+21) in 31 patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Chromosome specimen was prepared from bone marrow samples using a direct method and (or) cultivation, and their karyotypes were analyzed with R banding. The clinical features, chemotherapeutic effect and survival status of patients with acquired +21 were evaluated.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Cytogenetic studies were successfully performed on 3 329 patients with newly diagnosed AML, among which 31 (0.93%) had acquired +21. And 16 (0.48%) of the 31 patients had +21 as the sole abnormality. The most frequent subgroup of bone marrow morphology was AML-M5b, and its total number was 12 (38.7%) of the total. Thirty patients among those with +21 received standard chemotherapy. The complete remission (CR) rate (63% vs. 80%, P< 0.05) and median overall survival (OS) (7 months vs. 15 months, P< 0.01) of AML patients with acquired +21 were both lower than those without. Age (60 years or older) was associated with a significantly lower CR rate (30% vs. 80%, P< 0.05) and shorter median OS (4 months vs. 12 months, P< 0.01). Comparing to acquired +21 with other additional abnormalities, acquired +21 solely was associated with a lower median OS (6 months vs. 12 months, P< 0.05), but did not affect the CR rate (60% vs. 67%, P> 0.05). Three patients undergoing allogenetic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) were still alive at the end of follow-up. Their survival time have reached 56, 36 and 105 months, respectively, which were remarkably longer than those only received chemotherapy (P< 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The presence of acquired +21 in patients with AML has a adverse prognosis with or without other additional abnormalities. Older age (60 years or older) and +21 alone predicted relatively poorer outcome. Allo-HSCT was expected to prolong the survival time of AML patients with acquired +21.</p>

Clinical and cytogenetic study of chromosome 1 abnormality in myelodysplastic syndrome / 中华血液学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the incidence of chromosome 1 abnormality in myelodysplastic syndrome（MDS）to couple its association with clinical presentation and prognosis.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>R- band karyotype analyses were performed in 672 cases of MDS between 2010 and 2013. Clinical data of those with abnormal chromosome l were collected and then analyzed factors affecting the prognosis.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Of 672 cases of patients with MDS, chromosome 1 aberration［der（1）, dup（1）, －1 were most frequent］ were found in 41（6.1%）cases. 1q trisomy was found in 18/41（43.9%）cases, and the most common patterns were duplication of the long arm as well as unbalanced translocation with other chromosomes. Of 41 patients with chromosomal 1 abnormality, 32 cases were accompanied with other chromosomal aberration, usually involving 3 or more abnormal chromosomal karyotypes, e.g., chromosome 8, 7 abnormalities. According to IPSS-R scoring system, 19 patients were diagnosed with very high risk, 10 patients high risk, 10 patients intermediate risk and 2 patients low risk MDS. 9 patients transformed into acute leukemia with median transforming time of 7.18（0.56-54.28）months. Median survival of 36 cases after 2010 was 17.48（95% CI 14.38-20.58）months. There were significant differences on median survival between RAEB and non-RAEB groups（χ²=10.398, P=0.001）, and between with more than 3 chromosome abnormalities and with less than 3 groups（χ²=3.939, P=0.047）. RAEB was identified as an independent risk factor for the prognosis of MDS with chromosome 1 abnormality.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Chromosome 1 aberration was not rare in MDS. 1q trisomy was the most common abnormal karyotype in China, which often accompanied with other chromosomal abnormalities. The prognosis of MDS patients with chromosome 1 abnormality was poor, especially worse in those diagnosed with RAEB-1, RAEB-2 and with more than 3 chromosome abnormality. For patients whose percentage of bone marrow blasts less than 5%, the prognosis of patients with 1q trisomy was better than those without 1q trisomy. RAEB was identified as an independent risk factor for the prognosis of MDS with chromosome 1 abnormality.</p>

Clinical significance of TET2 gene expression in 157 adult acute myeloid leukemia patients with normal cytogenetics / 中华血液学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the clinical significance of ten-eleven-translocation methylcytosine dioxygenase 2 (TET2) mRNA expression levels in adult acute myeloid leukemia patients with normal cytogenetics (CN-AML).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Expression levels of TET2 mRNA were measured by real-time PCR in 157 adult CN-AML, and its clinical impact in CN-AML was evaluated as well.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>TET2 gene expression levels from bone marrow mononuclear cells (BMMNCs) [7.29(3.41-9.99)] and CD34+ cells [6.02(5.64-6.54)] in CN-AML were significantly lower than those [BMMNCs: 8.13(6.68-9.04), P=0.026; CD34+ cells: 6.48(5.97-7.12), P=0.034] in healthy control. And TET2 mRNA level at diagnosis [7.32(6.11-8.41)] was obviously lower than that at complete remission [8.39(7.76-8.79), P<0.01]. CN-AML patients with lower levels of TET2 mRNA showed worse survival rate [(32.7±5.9)%] at 18-month than those with higher levels [(48.6±6.9)%, P=0.041]. In multivariate analysis, lower level of TET2 mRNA was an independent prognostic factor for OS [hazard ratio(HR)2.032, 95% confidence interval (CI)1.272-3.247, P=0.003] and event-free survival [HR 1.532, 95% CI 1.014-2.314, P=0.043].</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The level of TET2 mRNA is significantly lower in patients with CN-AML and it is an independent negative prognostic factor. TET2 could be an important factor for the molecular-based risk stratification in CN-AML.</p>

Expression of Musashi2 gene in de novo acute myeloid leukemia and its clinical implications / 中华医学遗传学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the expression and clinical significance of Musashi2 (MSI2) gene in de novo acute myeloid leukemia (AML).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Real-time quantitative PCR (RQ-PCR) was used to measure the expression of MSI2 gene in 181 de novo AML patients. Correlation between the expression level and clinical features of such patients was explored.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Transcript of the MSI2 gene was detected in 181 AML patients, with the median expression level being 2.341 (0.1124-58.8566). By contrast, CD34+ cells from 10 healthy controls had a much lower expression level (P=0.012), and the expression level of MSI2 in 24 patients with complete remission was significant lower than de novo patients (P=0.021). Based on the median expression level, such patients were divided into low expression group and high expression group. Patients from the high expression group had significantly higher rate of high white blood cell count (78% vs. 63%, P=0.034). Compared with MSI2-low group, FLT3-ITD mutation were much more common in MSI2-high group (28% vs. 7%, P=0.002). The expression level of MSI2 in aberrant karyotypes was much higher than that in favorable karyotypes (the median expression level was 2.7726 and 2.0733, P=0.035). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that the overall survival in high expression group of MSI2 was lower than the low expression group, with the median survival time being 28 months and 12 months, respectively (P=0.045).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>De novo AML patients have a higher level of MSI2 gene expression. And the latter is much more common in those with high white blood cell count and aberrant karyotypes, and has a positive correlation with FLT3-ITD mutation. High expression of MSI2 gene may be a predictor for poorer prognosis among AML patients.</p>

Expression level of SET gene in acute myeloid leukemia and its clinical significance / 中华血液学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the expression level of SET gene in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and evaluate its significance.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The expression level of SET gene in 141 de novo AML patients was determined by real time quantitative PCR (RQ-PCR), and its relationship with the clinical features and outcomes of these patients were analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>SET gene transcript level was detected in 141 AML patients with the median expression level of 0.86(range 0.02-15.69). AML patients with higher SET gene expression had a higher level of white blood cell (WBC ≥ 100 × 10⁹/L) count than of lower SET gene expression ones (31.0% vs 11.4%, P=0.005). In the 136 patients who received treatment after diagnosis, higher SET gene expression group had lower complete remission rate (50.0%) than of lower expression cohort (73.5%) after two cycles of chemotherapy (P=0.005). Survival analysis showed that patients with higher SET gene expression had significantly shorter overall survival(OS) (10 months vs 22 months, P=0.001) and event-free survival (EFS) (2 months vs 14 months, P=0.005) than of lower SET gene expression ones. Multivariate COX regression analysis showed SET overexpression was an independent prognostic factor for OS. In the patients with the normal karyotype, higher SET expression group also had significantly shorter OS (12 months vs 35 months, P=0.010) and EFS (4 months vs 14 months, P=0.026) than of lower SET expression ones.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>High expression of SET gene was associated with poor prognosis and might be a prognostic molecular marker of AML.</p>

Clinical and cytogenetic features of hematologic malignancies associated with acquired trisomy 21 / 中华医学遗传学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the association between trisomy 21 abnormalities and the clinical and cytogenetic features of hematologic malignancies.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Chromosome preparations were made on bone marrow cells by using direct method and/or unstimulated short-term cultures. Karyotypes were analyzed by R-banding.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Thirteen patients (1.5%) with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) including 6 cases of M5b, 8 (2.2%) with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and 4 cases with other hematologic malignancies had acquired trisomy 21, and in 13 patients it occurred as the sole cytogenetic abnormality. The remaining had combination with other abnormalities. The median survival for the 19 patients with trisomy 21 was 9 months.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>M5b was the major type in AML with sole acquired trisomy 21.Trisomy 21 as the sole abnormality appeared to have a poor prognosis.</p>

Clinical and cytogenetics studies on acute myeloid leukemia with abnormality of chromosome 11 / 中华医学遗传学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the incidence of chromosome 11 abnormality in acute myeloid leukemia and its relationship with the clinical aspects and prognosis.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Conventional cytogenetic analysis of R-band was used to detect the abnormalities of chromosome 11 in 356 acute myeloid leukemia patients.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Thirty-four out of 356 patients (9.55%) had abnormalities of chromosome 11, of which 20 (58.8%) involved in 11q23, 7 (19.9%) had translocations involving 11p15, 5 (14.7%) had-11, and the rest had other abnormalities such as +11, and t(11;14). The incidence of 11q23 involvement in M4 and M5 was higher than other subtypes of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Ten cases with 11q23 abnormality had additional cytogenetic aberrations. In 30 cases treated with chemotherapy, 13 cases acquired complete remission (CR). The CR rate was lower than that of whole cases of acute myeloid leukemia(34.3% versus 64.0%). The CR rate of AML with 11q23 abnormality was lower than that of AML with normal karyotype (25% versus 55.6%). In other 10 patients with additional chromosome aberrations, the CR rate was lower than that of AML with 11q23 alone. In 7 patients with translocations at 11p15, only 3 patients acquired CR, and 2 patients relapsed early. Only 2 patients acquired CR in 5 patients with-11.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>11q23 was a frequent aberration in chromosome 11 anomaly, which was often detected in M4 and M5. It might be associated with the pathogenesis of acute monolytic leukemia. The patients with chromosome 11 anomaly had poorer prognosis.</p>

The G894T mutation of the endothelial nitric oxide synthase gene is associated with coronary atherosclerotic heart disease in Chinese / 中华医学遗传学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the association of the endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) gene polymorphism with coronary atherosclerotic heart disease (CHD) in Chinese Han nationality.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>For 106 patients with CHD and 108 unrelated health individuals, the G894T mutation at exon 7 of the endothelial nitric oxide synthase gene was studied by using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>(1) Among the normal subjects of Chinese Han nationality, the frequencies of the eNOS/GG, GT and TT genotypes were 0.9095, 0.0883 and 0.0021, respectively. The G and T allele frequencies were 0.9537 and 0.0463. (2) The authors assumed the effects of the T allele to be dominant (GT and TT combined vs GG). The GT+TT genotype frequencies in CHD and myocardial infarction (MI) subgroup were 0.2219 and 0.2387, respectively. The frequencies of eNOS/GT+TT genotypes in CHD patients, as well as MI subgroup were significantly higher than that of the normal subjects (P<0.05), respectively. The frequencies of T allele in CHD, MI subgroup were significantly higher than that in the normal subjects (P<0.01), respectively. (3) This mutation was not related to the number of affected vessels in the 58 patients who had angiographically documented artery narrowing (P>0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The G894T mutation of the endothelial nitric oxide synthase gene may be a marker for genetical predisposition of CHD in Chinese Han population.</p>