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In this study we performed absolute quantification of the PML-RARA transcript by droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR) in 76 newly diagnosed acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) cases to verify the prognostic impact of the PML-RARA initial molecular burden. ddPCR analysis revealed that the amount of PML-RARA transcript at diagnosis in the group of patients who relapsed was higher than in that with continuous complete remission (CCR) (272 vs 89.2 PML-RARA copies/ng, p = 0.0004, respectively). Receiver operating characteristic analysis detected the optimal PML-RARA concentration threshold as 209.6 PML-RARA/ng (AUC 0.78; p < 0.0001) for discriminating between outcomes (CCR versus relapse). Among the 67 APL cases who achieved complete remission after the induction treatment, those with >209.6 PML-RARA/ng had a worse relapse-free survival (p = 0.0006). At 5-year follow-up, patients with >209.6 PML-RARA/ng had a cumulative incidence of relapse of 50.3% whereas 7.5% of the patients with suffered a relapse (p < 0.0001). Multivariate analysis identified the amount of PML-RARA before induction treatment as the sole independent prognostic factor for APL relapse.Our results show that the pretreatment PML-RARA molecular burden could therefore be used to improve risk stratification in order to develop more individualized treatment regimens for high-risk APL cases.

Lymphoid enhancer-binding factor 1 (LEF1) is a downstream effector of the Wnt/ β-catenin signaling pathway. High LEF1 expression has been reported as a prognostic marker in hematologic malignancies. We evaluated the prognostic significance of LEF1 expression in 78 adult acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) patients. APL samples were dichotomized at the median value and divided into: LEF1(low) and LEF1(high). LEF1(high) patients had lower WBC counts at baseline and were less likely to carry a FLT3-ITD than LEF1(low) patients. Early death occurred only in the LEF1(low) group. Moreover, LEF1(low) expression was associated with a high Sanz score. Survival analysis of 61 APL patients < 60 years revealed that the LEF1(high) group had a significantly longer overall survival (OS). Cox analysis for OS confirmed only LEF1 expression as an independent prognostic factor. Of the 17 patients over the age of 60, those in the LEF1(high) group showed a higher median survival. In silico analysis identified 9 differentially expressed, up-modulated genes associated with a high expression of LEF1; the majority of these genes is involved in the regulation of apoptosis. Our study provides evidence that LEF1 expression is an independent prognostic factor in APL, and could be used in patients risk stratification.