Is AML1/ETO gene expression a good prognostic factor in pediatric acute myeloblastic leukemia?

To assess the clinical significance of AML1/ETO gene detected by nested rev erse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, the outcome of 7 patients wit h acute myeloblastic leukemia between 3 and 14 years of age were presented. All patients had complete remission (CR) at the end of induction (AML-MRC 10 protocol) and 4 underwent unpurged autologous, 2 allogeneic (from matced siblings) non-T-cell-depleted bone marrow transplantations (BMT) in first CR. One patient died due to allogeneic BMT-related complications, and 4 pat ients relapsed at 13, 17, 18, and 26 months. Only one patient achieved seco nd CR. All relapsed patients died between 18 and 36 months with resistant d isease (n = 3) or infection during salvage chemotherapy (n = 1). Two patien ts who had autologous BMT are alive and disease free at 44 and 50 months. A lthough statistical significance could not be shown, event-free survival an d overall survival rates of AML1/ETO-positive patients (28.57 and 28.57 %, respectively) at 3.5 years were even lower than those of AML1/ETO-negative patients. The results confirm some previous reports that AML1/ETO gene in c hildren and adolescents is not a favorable prognostic factor.