Prognostic value of bone marrow MUC4 expression in acute myeloid leukaemia.

Aberrant expression of mucin-4 (MUC4) is present in a variety of solid cancers, but the expression pattern of and its clinical relevance in acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is unknown. We aimed to evaluate the expression level of and explore its prognostic value in newly diagnosed adult patients with AML. Bone marrow from 70 AML patients and 26 healthy donors was obtained. levels were quantified by quantitative real-time PCR. Routine blood indices were measured by standard techniques. Bone marrow expression levels were significantly elevated in AML patients compared to controls at median (range) 2.77 (0.7-16.6) and 1.14 (0.5-1.99) respectively (p = 0.005). Moreover, lower expression was strongly associated with persistent remission (p = 0.001) while higher levels were associated with worse overall as well as disease-free survival (p = 0.011 and p = 0.006, respectively). Thus, its level may act as an indicator of disease progression. High expression was identified as an independent prognostic predictor for both overall survival and disease-free survival. over-expression is an independent predictor of a poor prognosis in AML patients.