The predictive value of human organic cation transporter 1 and ABCB1 expression levels in different cell populations of patients with de novo chronic myelogenous leukemia

Abstract

In this study, we investigated the predictive value of pretreatment mRNA expression levels of hOCT-1 and ABCB1 in different cell populations with regard to the response to therapy at 6 and 12 months of IMA therapy. Expression levels were assessed in peripheral blood (PB) leukocytes (LEU, n = 30), polymorphonuclear cells (PMNC, n = 23), and mononuclear cells (MNC, n = 21) of PB LEU obtained from 30 patients with de novo chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). Moreover, the available bone marrow cells (BM) were also included and analyzed (BM, n = 11). The PB and BM samples were obtained, processed, and analyzed as previously described. Responses to therapy were classified according the European LeukemiaNet 2009 (ELN) criteria: responders show an optimal response at 6 months and 12 months, while non-responders reflect a suboptimal response or therapy failure. The assessed pretreatment expression levels were stratified into two groups according to the median-a low-mRNA expression group below the median and a high-mRNA expression group equal to or above the median. The statistical evaluation of the data obtained was performed using the Fisher’s exact tests and summarized in Table 2.