Bone marrow microRNA-34a is a good indicator for response to treatment in acute myeloid leukemia.

BACKGROUND: microRNA-34a (miR-34a) had been reported to have a diagnostic role in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). However, its value in the bone marrow (BM) of AML patients, in addition to its role in response to therapy is still unclear. The current study was designed to assess the diagnostic, prognostic, and predictive significance of miR-34a in the BM of AML patients.

METHODS: The miR-34a was assessed in BM aspirate of 82 AML patients in relation to 12 normal control subjects using qRT-PCR. The data were assessed for correlation with the relevant clinical criteria, response to therapy, disease-free survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS) rates.

RESULTS: miR-34a was significantly downregulated in AML patients [0.005 (3.3 × 10-6 -1.32)], compared to the control subjects [0.108 (3.2 × 10-4 -1.64), p = 0.021 ]. The median relative quantification (RQ) of miR-34a was 0.106 (range; 0-32.12). The specificity, sensitivity, and area under the curve (AUC) for the diagnosis of AML were ( 58.3% , 69.5% , 0.707 , respectively, p = 0.021 ). patients with upregulated miR-34a showed decreased platelets count <34.5 × 109 /L, and achieved early complete remission ( CR, p = 0.031 , p = 0.044 , respectively ) . Similarly, patients who were refractory to therapy showed decreased miR-34a levels in comparison to those who achieved CR [0.002 (0-0.01) and 0.12 (0-32.12), respectively, p = 0.002 ]. Therefore, miR-34a could significantly identify patients with CR with a specificity of 75% and sensitivity of 100% at a cut-off of 0.014 (AUC = 0.927, p = 0.005). There was no considerable association between miR-34a expression and survival rates of the included AML patients.

CONCLUSION: miR-34a could be a beneficial diagnostic biomarker for AML patients. In addition, it serves as a good indicator for response to therapy, which could possibly identify patients who are refractory to treatment with 100% sensitivity and 75% specificity.