Early Death and Survival of Patients With Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia in ATRA Plus Arsenic Era: A Population-Based Study.

Most randomized trials for acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) have investigated highly selected patients under idealized conditions, and the findings need to be validated in the real world. We conducted a population-based study of all APL patients in Zhejiang Province, China, with a total population of 82 million people, to assess the generalization of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) and arsenic as front-line treatment. The outcomes of APL patients were also analyzed. Between January 2015 and December 2019, 1,233 eligible patients were included in the final analysis. The rate of ATRA and arsenic as front-line treatment increased steadily from 66.2% in 2015 to 83.3% in 2019, with no difference among the size of the center (≥5 or <5 patients per year, p = 0.12) or age (≥60 or <60 years, p = 0.35). The early death (ED) rate, defined as death within 30 days after diagnosis, was 8.2%, and the 3-year overall survival (OS) was 87.9% in the whole patient population. Age (≥60 years) and white blood cell count (>10 × 109/L) were independent risk factors for ED and OS in the multivariate analysis. This population-based study showed that ATRA and arsenic as front-line treatment are widely used under real-world conditions and yield a low ED rate and a high survival rate, which mimic the results from clinical trials, thereby supporting the wider application of APL guidelines in the future.

Up-regulation of microRNA-497 inhibits the proliferation, migration and invasion but increases the apoptosis of multiple myeloma cells through the MAPK/ERK signaling pathway by targeting Raf-1.

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a cancer that occurs in plasma cells, which fall under the category of white blood cells that are in charge of antibody production. According to previous studies, microRNA-497 (miR-497) functions as a tumor suppressor in several types of cancer, including gastric cancer and colorectal cancer. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate the effects of miR-497 on cellular function of human MM cells through the mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (MAPK/ERK) signaling pathway by targeting Raf-1. The differentially expressed genes and miRs in MM, and the relationship between the miR and gene were verified. It was found that Raf-1 was a target gene of miR-497. The data obtained from MM tissues showed increased Raf-1 level and decreased miR-497 level. MM cells were treated with mimic, inhibitor and siRNA in order to evaluate the role of miR-497, Raf-1 and MAPK/ERK in MM. The expression pattern of miR-497, Raf-1, ERK1/2, survivin, B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) and BCL2-Associated X (Bax) as well as the extent of ERK1/2 phosphorylation were determined. Retored miR-497 and si-Raf-1 resulted in increases in the Bax expression and cell apoptosis and decreases in the expressions of Raf-1, MEK-2, survivin, Bcl-2, along with the extent of ERK1/2 phosphorylation. In addition, the biological function evaluations of MM cells revealed that miR-497 mimic or si-Raf-1 led to suppression in cell proliferation, invasion and migration. In conclusion, our results have demonstrated that miR-497 targets Raf-1 in order to inhibit the progression of MM by blocking the MAPK/ERK signaling pathway.

[A retrospective study of chronic myelocytic leukemia treatment with imatinib and interferon-α].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical effect of chronic myelocytic leukemia (CML) patients treated with imatinib (IM) and interferon (IFN)-α. METHODS: One hundred and fifty five CML patients at chronic phase were included in the study. All patients were divided into two groups according to treatment regimen: IM + IFN group and IM group. Complete cytogenetic response (CCyR) rate, major molecular response (MMR) rate, complete molecular response (CMR) rate, overall survival (OS) and progression free survival (PFS) were observed and compared in both groups. RESULTS: The CCyR rate was higher in the IM + IFN group than that in the IM group at 6 months (60.6% vs 41.6%, P < 0.05), but no difference was observed later on. The MMR + CMR rate was higher in the IM + IFN group than that in the IM group at 6 months and 12 months (71.2% vs 34.8%, 77.3% vs 52.8%, respectively, P < 0.05), but no difference after that. After stratification according to Sokal risk, the CCyR rate of low- and intermediate-risk patients was higher in the IM + IFN group than that in the IM group at 6 months (77.8% vs 52.6%, 75.0% vs 46.7%, P < 0.05), but not from 12 months on; the MMR + CMR rate of low- and intermediate-risk patients was higher in the IM + IFN group than that in the IM group at 6 months and 12 months (85.2% vs 36.8%, 90.0% vs 36.7%, P < 0.05; 88.9% vs 57.9%, 90.0% vs 56.7%, P < 0.05), but not from 24 months on. There was no significant difference in high-risk patients. OS in IM and IM + IFN group at 6, 12, 24 and 36 months was 100%, 100%, 96.8% and 90.0%, and 100%, 100%, 97.9% and 93.1%, respectively. PFS in IM and IM + IFN group at 6, 12, 24 and 36 months was 97.8%, 95.5%, 91.9% and 85.5%, and 98.5%, 95.5%, 91.5% and 86.2%, respectively. There was no significant difference in OS (u = 0.427, P = 0.514) or PFS (u = 0.556, P = 0.456). The side effects in both groups included pancytopenia, edema, weight gain, ostalgia, rash and muscle spasm. In addition, patients in the IM + IFN group suffered from flu-like symptoms, impaired liver function, abnormal thyroid function and extremity sensory disturbance. It seemed that grade III or IV pancytopenia occurred more commonly in the patients in the IM + IFN group, however, there was no statistically significance. CONCLUSIONS: The response to IM + IFN is more rapid than that to IM alone, especially for the low- and intermediate-risk patients. It seems no benefit of the addition of IFN to treatment of high-risk patients. During the period of 36 months, survival rate in the IM + IFN group is not higher than that in IM group, and it is possible to increase the side effects of pharmaceutical drugs.

[Expression of DNMT gene in bone marrow of patients with acute myelogenous leukemia and its significance].

This study was aimed to explore the expression and significance of DNMT1 gene in bone marrow of patients with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). The expression of DNMT1 gene was detected by real-time PCR in 30 healthy people and 126 AML patients. The results showed that the expression level of DNMT1 gene was lower in the 30 healthy people and was higher in AML patients. There was a marked decline in the expression level of DNMT1 gene after complete remission (CR) as compared with the initial treatment. The expression level of DNMT1 gene did not correlated with age, sex and the clinical characteristics at initial diagnosis such as white blood cell count and chromosomal karyotype in AML patients. The CR rate in AML patients with low expression level of DNMT1 gene was lower than that in those with high expression level. It is concluded that bone marrow DNMT1 gene level may play an important role in AML pathogenesis and can serve as an index in evaluating AML prognosis.

[beta-elemene enhances aclarubicin-induced apoptotic effect in HL-60 cells and its mechanism.].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effects of beta-elemene combined with aclarubicin on the induction of HL-60 cell apoptosis and its mechanisms in antileukemia therapy. METHODS: HL-60 cells were treated for 20 hours with different dose of aclarubicin (0.05, 0.10, 0.25 microg/ml) or with different concentrations of beta-elemene (10, 20, 40 microg/ml) in the presence or absence of aclarubicin (0.10 microg/m). The apoptotic rate was analyzed by flow cytometry (FCM), the productions of PGE2 in culture supernatants was detected by competitive ELISA and the expressions of COX-2 and NF-kappaB activity in HL-60 cells by Western blot. RESULTS: Lower concentration of aclarubicin (0.05, 0.10 microg/ml) didn't affect apoptotic rate, and COX-2, NF-kappa B and PGE2 expression on HL-60 cells. Combined treatment of beta-elemene and aclarubicin (0.10 microg/ml) enhanced the apoptotic effect and down-regulated COX-2, NF-kappaB and PGE2 expressions. There was a positive correlation between the effects and beta-elemene concentrations. CONCLUSION: beta-elemene enhances aclarubicin-mediated apoptotic effect, down-regulation of COX-2 and their inducing products PGE2 in HL-60 cells by suppressing activitation of NF-kappaB.