Analysis of BAALC gene Expression as prognosis factor in Pediatric Acute Myeloid Leukemia in Iran

Background:Brain and Acute Leukemia Cytoplasmic (BAALC) is a gene which its expression is confined to progenitor cells; therefore, no expression has been illustrated in mature cells of bone marrow or white blood cells (WBC).  In addition, high BAALC expression is associated with poor prognosis in Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) individuals and is considered as an important risk factor in Cytogenetic Normal Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study was designed to evaluate prognostic importance of BAALC gene expression in pediatric AML patients. Recently, recognized 114 AML Iranian children with age range of 1-15 years were entered in this study during 2012-2015. Real-Time PCR was applied for BAALC gene. Results: High BAALC gene expression was detected in 47 patients (41.2%) and low expression in 67 patients (58.8%). High BAALC gene expression group (n=47) contained23 males and 24 females. All patients were followed up for 2 years to measure disease prognosis. BAALC expression was a main unfavorable prognostic factor in AML patient’s especially normal karyotype. AML cases with high BAALC expression had considerable further cumulative risk after 25 months; it was 39 months in low expressed cases. All of cytogenetic normal acute myeloid leukemias (CN-AML) and high BAALC expressed patients died. High BAALC expression in AML cases was associated with considerable shorter overall survival (OS). Conclusion: According to our findings, BAALC expression is a significance poor prognostic factor in AML patients with normal karyotype. This study suggests new therapeutic strategies to ameliorate the treat rate of AML patients. Further research with longer follow up and larger sample size is required to definite statistical perusals.