Prospective quantitative gene expression analysis of kallikrein-related peptidase as a diagnostic biomarker for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Background: The most common malignancy in children is acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). This study aimed to explore mRNA expression as a potential diagnostic biomarker for ALL in children and to examine the effect of chemotherapy on mRNA expression following the induction and after three months of receiving chemotherapy.

Methods: In this prospective study, total RNA was extracted from blood samples of 23 pediatric ALL patients on diagnosis, after one month and three months of receiving chemotherapy.