Expression of the myeloperoxidase gene in AC133 positive leukemia cells relates to the prognosis of acute myeloid leukemia.

We previously reported that the percentage of myeloperoxidase (MPO) positive blasts had a prognostic impact on survival of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). To extend this observation, we quantitatively measured the level of the MPO gene in AC133 positive leukemia cells that would contain a putative AML stem/progenitor compartment. AML cases were divided into the MPO gene high (MPOg-H) and MPO gene low (MPOg-L) groups. Only patients belonging to the MPOg-H group had a favorable chromosomal translocation, t(8;21), and having no morphological dysplasia that was associated with MPOg-L. The difference in the survival of MPOg-H and MPOg-L was statistically meaningful, demonstrating the possible prognostic impact of the expression of MPO gene in AC133 positive leukemia cells.