PTCSC3, XIST, GAS5, UCA1, and HIFAL: Five lncRNAs Emerging as Potential Prognostic Players in Egyptian Adult Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) Patients.

Background And Aims: So far, long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) signatures in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) are poorly understood. The present study aims to explore the prognostic significance of eleven cancer-related lncRNAs in bone marrow (BM) samples from adult Egyptian AML patients.

Materials And Methods: In this study, we analyzed eleven lncRNAs using the qRT-PCR assay in the bone marrow (BM) of 79 de novo AML adult patients before receiving any therapy.

Results: Five lncRNAs out of 11 were aberrantly expressed, and two lncRNAs influenced significantly the patient's overall survival (OS). LncRNA-XIST was favorable when overexpressed (in univariate and multivariate analysis, -value = .001). LncRNA-GAS5 adversely affected the OS (only in multivariate analysis -value = .02). Two other lncRNAs (UCA1 and HIFAL) impacted complete remission induction (CR) significantly in univariate analysis (-value = .046 for both). Furthermore, lncRNA-UCA1 affected CR significantly in multivariate COX regression analysis (-value = .004). The 4 previously mentioned lncRNAs were among the 9 downregulated lncRNAs. Instead, the only 2 upregulated lncRNAs (SNHG15, MALAT1) did not significantly influence neither CR induction nor OS. LncRNA-PTCSC3, a fifth lncRNA, emerged as the only one that could predict relapse occurrence in an upfront original BM sample.

Conclusion: Two lncRNAs out of eleven (lncRNA-XIST and GAS5) impacted OS, and two other lncRNAs (UCA1 and HIFAL) affected CR in adult de novo AML patients. LncRNA-PTCSC3 predict relapse, however, further validation is still required.