P15INK4B Gene Methylation In Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia And Its Prognostic Value

P15(INK4B) is a tumor suppressor gene. Inactivation of the p15 occurs due to hyper-methylation of CpG (cytosine phosphodiester bond guanine) islands in their promoters or by deletions in the 9p21 region and is associated with loss of cell cycle control and aberrant proliferation of tumor cells. This study was conducted on 72 newly diagnosed patients with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. A group of 30 apparently normal healthy children and adults of matched age and sex were also included. Methylation specific-polymerase chain reaction for assessment of methylation status of p15 in peripheral blood lymphocytes was done. 26 (36%) of patients showed complete methylation of p15 and 34 (47%) showed partial methylation while 12 (17%) showed unmethylation of p15. In the adults group 30 out of 42 cases died by the end of the follow up period with statistical significant impact of age, immunophenotype and p15 methylation status on OS were found (p= 0.02, 0.04 & 0.0002 respectively). This result indicate that methylation of p15 is a common phenomenon in ALL. We found that the mortality rate was higher among patients with p15 methylation., these findings may highlight the importance for screening for these abnormalities in ALL patients to identify patients with high risk. Prospective knowledge of pretreatment methylation may help determine candidate patients for demethylating therapies. [Hanaa Mohamed Afifi; Naglaa Mohamed Kholoussi; Abeer Attia Saad; Waheeba Zarouk; Rania El-Bialy Esmail Shaisha and Rasha I Ibrahim. P15INK4B Gene Methylation In Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia And Its Prognostic Value. Life Sci J 2012:1414-1420]. (ISSN:1097-8135). http://www.lifesciencesite.com. 206.