Lower Serum miR-145 Predicts Poor Prognosis in Patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Background: The current study mainly aims to evaluate the role and clinical significance of miR-145 in the progression of AML. Methods: Serum and bone marrow nucleated cells (BMNc) were collected and the level of miR-145 was detected by RT-PCR. Pearson's correlation assay was carried out to analyze the correlation between serum miR-145 and clinical index. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was constructed to determine the diagnosis value of serum miR-145. Results: MiR-145 was significantly decreased in serum and BMNc of patients with AML compared with the control group. Pearson's correlation assay showed that serum miR-145 was positively correlated with miR-145 levels in BMNc. Further study showed that the level of serum miR-145 was much lower in AML patients with initial WBC count >= 50 x 10(9)/L than that of WBC count < 50 x 10(9)/L. Moreover, the level of serum miR-145 in prednisone poor responders was significantly lower than that in prednisone good responders. Compared with minimal residual disease (MRD) < 0.01% group, serum miR-145 was much lower in AML patients with MRD >= 0.01% group. Pearson's correlation analysis showed that serum miR-145 was positively correlated with MRD. In addition, miR-145 diagnosed AML with an AUC of 0.915 (95% confidence interval: 0.828 to 1.000; p < 0.001). Conclusions: The level of miR-145 in serum and BMNc of AML patients was significantly lower than those of the control group. Serum miR-145 was related to poor prognosis and disease recurrence of AML.