PRAME Gene Expression in Thai Acute Myeloid Leukemia and Disease Correlations

Abstract

Preferentially expressed  antigen of melanoma (PRAM E) is a tumor-associated antigen overexpressed in a wide variety of solid tumors and hematologic  malignancies. Previous studies have shown  high expression of  PRAME  in solid  tumors  with  high  potential  as  a  prognostic marker  and  candidate  target  for  immunotherapy. The  PRAME  expression in  acute  myeloid leukemia  (AML)  patients in Thailand  has not yet been assessed. This study aimed  to investigate the  expression of PRAME  gene  in  newly diagnosed  Thai  AML and  its correlations with  the disease. The real time quantitative reverse transcription PCR (real  time RT-qPCR) was used to measure  PRAME  gene  expression in  50  newly diagnosed  Thai  AML and  30 healthy  control samples. The results revealed that 58% of AML samples expressed  PRAME gene, while healthy control individuals  showed  no expression  of the gene. PRAME  expression levels in this study were  not correlated with gender,  white  blood cell count,  hemoglobin, hematocrit, platelet and number  of blasts in the bone marrow  of AML samples (p = 0.704, 0.094, 0.764, 0.438 and 0.598, respectively). This study is the first to reveal PRAME gene expression in Thai AML. The result showing   the  presence   of  PRAME  at  high  proportion in  AML  could  be  advantageous for developing  targeted  cellular  immunotherapy against  this type of hematologic  malignancy.