Expression of Peripheral Blood
microRNA
‐126 and Its Prognostic Value in Patients With Acute Myeloid Leukemia
Haiying Zhang, Huaqing Zhang, Lingzhou Xia, Yuting Chen, Changkun Chen, Dong He, Zhiqiang Zhong, Chunju Wen, Dongting Liu, Mingxing Zhong ABSTRACT
Objective
This study aimed to characterize peripheral blood microRNA (miR)‐126 expression and evaluate its prognostic significance in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
Methods
AML patients ( n = 78) and healthy volunteers ( n = 81) were enrolled in this retrospective study as the AML and Control groups. Clinical data were collected, and peripheral blood miR‐126 expression was measured by RT‐qPCR. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves assessed the prognostic value of miR‐126. Kaplan–Meier analysis compared survival outcomes between patients with high and low miR‐126 expression. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were conducted to determine whether miR‐126 was an independent risk factor for overall survival (OS) and progression‐free survival (PFS).
Results
Peripheral blood miR‐126 expression was significantly higher in the AML group than in controls [1.30 (0.51–2.30) vs. 0.42 (0.30–0.62)]. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) of miR‐126 to distinguish AML patients from healthy controls was 0.815, with 62.82% sensitivity and 93.83% specificity at a cutoff value of 0.86. Patients with high miR‐126 expression had higher proportions of extramedullary infiltration and high‐risk European LeukemiaNet classification and significantly shorter OS and PFS. The AUC of miR‐126 for predicting poor prognosis was 0.796, with 73.20% sensitivity and 75.70% specificity at a cutoff value of 1.297. After adjustment, miR‐126 was confirmed as an independent predictor of reduced OS and PFS.
Conclusion
Elevated peripheral blood miR‐126 expression is associated with reduced OS and PFS of patients with AML and may serve as a useful biomarker for prognostic assessment.