We analyzed the expression of deoxycytidine kinase (dCK), UMP/CMP-kinase (UMP/CMP-K), nucleotide diphosphokinase (NDPK-B) and 5'-nucleotidases cN-II, cN-III, cdN and mdN by quantitative polymerase chain reaction at diagnosis in leukemic blasts from 96 patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) treated with ara-C. Our results show that high mRNA levels of cN-II and low mRNA levels of cN-III are correlated with a worse clinical outcome and suggest that these enzymes may have a role in sensitivity to ara-C in AML patients.
The presence of 1p abnormalities in AML and other malignancies is reviewed, as are candidate tumor suppressor genes in the 1p34 approximately p36 region.
Although none of the NT5C3 polymorphisms was associated with a complete remission rate, a common single nucleotide polymorphism, rs3750117, showed a significant association with induction rate after the first course of chemotherapy (Pcorr=0.004 and odds ratio=11.28) in AML patients.