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Deregulation of secreted frizzled-related protein 1 ( SFRP1) has been found in many types of cancer. However, the pattern of SFRP1 expression in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is still unclear. This study determined SFRP1 expression in patients with AML. SFRP1 expression was decreased markedly in patients with AML compared to controls ( p < 0.001). White blood cell (WBC) counts increased as SFRP1 expression decreased in AML ( p = 0.016). Patients with low SFRP1 expression showed a different distribution of French-American-British (FAB) subtypes M1/M2/M3 from those with high SFRP1 expression ( p = 0.031). NPM1 mutation was mainly observed in patients with low SFRP1 expression ( p = 0.011). There was a weak trend that patients with AML with low SFRP1 expression had shorter overall survival (OS) than those with high SFRP1 expression ( p = 0.103). Our results indicate that reduced SFRP1 expression is found more frequently in the less well-differentiated subgroups of AML and is associated with NPM1 mutation in AML. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abnormal methylation of let-7a-3 has been found in various cancers and may consequently affect their survival. In this study, real-time quantitative methylation specific PCR (RQ-MSP) was used to determine the unmethylation level of let-7a-3 in 95 patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). The hypomethylation of let-7a-3 promoter was detected in 22 of 95 (23.2%) patients with MDS compared to 4.2% (1/24) of controls (p= 0.0419). Moreover, the frequency of let-7a-3 hypomethylation was higher in older patients (≥70 years) than in younger patients (<70 years). No significant difference was observed in distribution of WHO, IPSS, and cytogenetic classification. However, hypomethylated patients had significantly shorter overall survival than those without hypomethylation (p= 0.007). Moreover both Kaplan–Meier and Multivariate Cox analyses confirmed that let-7a-3 hypomethylation was an independent prognostic risk factor in cohorts of MDS patients with lower-risk disease. Our study suggested that let-7a-3 hypomethylation may predict poor outcome in MDS. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

To investigateDLX4isoforms expression and their clinical significance in acute myeloid leukemia (AML).DLX4 transcript variant 1(BP1) expression was significantly up-regulated in AML patients compared with normal controls. However,DLX4 transcript variant 2(DLX7) was significantly down-regulated in AML patients. Both in the overall AML and the non-M3 AML cohorts, those patients with highBP1expression (BP1high) showed significantly lower rates of complete remission than those with lowBP1expression (BP1low).BP1highcases had significantly shorter overall survival thanBP1lowcases in the overall AML cohort, non-M3 AML, and cytogenetically normal AML (CN-AML). Multivariate analysis confirmed the independent prognostic value ofBP1expression among both the overall AML cohort and non-M3 AML as well as CN-AML patients. However, we did not observe the impact ofDLX7expression on prognosis in AML patients. Our study reveals thatBP1overexpression serves as an independent risk factor inde novoAML patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]