Overexpression of LncRNA ITGB2-AS1 Predicts Adverse Prognosis in Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Abstract

LncRNA ITGB2-AS1 has been found to play important roles in the occurrence and development of human solid tumors. However, its role in hematological diseases, especially acute myeloid leukemia (AML), remains unclear. The aim of this study was to identify the expression pattern of ITGB2-AS1 in AML patients and to further explore its clinical significance. ITGB2-AS1 expression was analyzed in public datasets (including TCGA and GSE63270) and further validated in a cohort of 109 AML patients by real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). The level of ITGB2-AS1 was up-regulated among two independent cohorts (TCGA, P<0.05; GSE63270, P<0.05), which was confirmed by the data from 109 AML patients enrolled in this study (P<0.05). Clinically, high ITGB2-AS1 expression was associated with older age (P=0.023) and lower complete remission (CR) rate (P=0.005). Multivariate analysis identified that high ITGB2-AS1 expression was an independent prognostic factor not only for CR rate (P=0.027) but also for overall survival (OS) time (P=0.011), and ITGB2-AS1 was positively correlated with ITGB2 expression in both TCGA (r=0.74, P<0.001) and clinical data detected in this study (r=0.881, P<0.001). High ITGB2 expression was also associated with older age (P=0.02) and lower CR rate (P=0.020). Moreover, high ITGB2 expression predicted worse OS (P=0.028). ITGB2-AS1 is overexpressed in AML and predicts poor prognosis in AML patients.