Dynamic changes in the level of WT1 as an MRD marker to predict the therapeutic outcome of patients with AML with and without allogeneic stem cell transplantation.
WT1 is a well-characterized developmental gene that is mutated in Wilms' tumor (WT) and acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) and has an antisense transcript (WT1-AS), which we have previously found to regulate WT1 protein levels.
After allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT), we evaluated the use of the Wilms' tumor gene (WT1) as a minimal residual disease (MRD) marker in 32 patients (28 chronic myeloid leukemia, three acute lymphoblastic leukemia and one acute myeloid leukemia).
Moreover, WT1 AS oligomers significantly inhibited the growth of the clonogenic cells of fresh leukemic cells in six of 14 patients with acute myeloid leukemia, in one of two patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) chronic phase, and in one of one patient with CML blastic crisis.