Quantitative Assessment of WT1 Expression by Real Time Quantitative PCR in Pediatric Patients with Acute Myeloblastic Leukemia

Background: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is one of myeloid malignancies which the risk increases with age increment. It is categorized based on genetic aberrations. Some of these genetic disorders can determine minimal residual diseases (MRD) and prognosis of AML patients. Wilms tumor (WT1) over expression is found in AML patients. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of WT1 over expression in AML pediatric cases in North -East of Iran. Materials and Methods: This retrospective Study was done in Mashhad, Iran during 2016 in 100 pediatric AML cases. WT1 expression was evaluated by quantitative reverses transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) and cloning method. Both WT1 and ABL genes were cloned to create a standard curve and then copy number of WT1 gene in patients was evaluated. Results: One hundred children under 15 with mean age of 6.50± 4.22 were evaluated in this study. There were no significant differences between age and sex and WT1 expression (P>0.05).  Mean expression of cited gene was 200.52±210.62 copies of WT1/ABL 104 in studied samples. WT1 gene over expression was observed in 82% of all patients. Conclusion: WT1 assessment can be applied as a prognostic and diagnostic marker in AML patients under 15.