PROGNOSTIC VALUE OF BCL2-ASSOCIATED X PROTEIN (BAX) EXPRESSION IN ADULT EGYPTIAN PATIENTS WITH ACUTE MYELOID LEUKEMIA

Searching for new molecular markers in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) that allow prediction of clinical outcome has recently directed towards genes involved in the regulation of apoptosis. Aim: To assess whether BAX gene expression per se is an independent prognostic parameters for outcome in Egyptian patients with AML. Our case control study was conducted on fifty four subjects, thirty four adult de novo AML patients and twenty volunteers as a control group. All participants were subjected to medical history, thorough clinical examination and laboratory measuring of routine CBC and comprehensive metabolic profile. Quantitative real-time PCR for BAX was done for all subjects. BAX gene expression was detected in AML patients and there was a significant correlation between the patients and control group (p value< 0.001). The complete remission rate after first induction chemotherapy was seen in 15 patients (71.4%) with high BAX expression and in 6 patients with low BAX expression, while only 4 out of 13 (30.7%) with poor clinical outcome expressed high BAX gene levels. This should deduce that BAX, as a promoter of apoptosis, could act as a prognostic indicator in our sample of AML patients.