Quantitative assessment of BAX transcript and flow cytometric expression in acute myeloid leukemia: a prospective study

Abstract

Objective: Quantitative assessment of BAX transcripts and protein in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Methods: We quantitatively evaluated BAX gene transcripts by real-time polymerase chain reaction (TaqMan probe chemistry) and protein expression by flow cytometry. Results: Consecutive 112 AML patients with a median age of 16 (1–59) years were recruited in the study. By flow cytometry, the percentage expression was in linear correlation with relative median fluorescent intensity (RMFI; R = 0.4425; P < 0.001). However, there was no linear relationship between the transcript copies of the BAX with its RMFI (R = -0.0559; P = 0.586). The expression of the BAX at both protein and transcript level was significantly higher in AML patients as compared with normal control. RMFI of the BAX were higher in the cohort with lower white blood cell count (P = 0.029). None of the other baseline characteristics correlated with either the BAX transcript or the RMFI. BAX expression did not correlate with complete remission rate, event free, disease free, and overall survival. Conclusion: BAX gene expression in AML was evaluated first time with two different methods but did not correlate with the survival outcome.