TET2 expression in a cohort of Egyptian acute myeloid leukemia patients

Ten–eleven translocation 2 gene (TET2) expression plays a crucial role in DNA methylation and hematopoietic stem cell functions. The prognostic relevance of the TET2 mutation in cytogenetically normal acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients is still not well established. The aim of the present study was to determine the level of TET2 expression in AML patients, its prognostic significance, and its relation to cytogenetics. We studied TET2 gene expression by real-time PCR in 33 AML patients and 34 healthy controls matched for age and sex. The median age of AML patients at presentation was 40 years, with a female to male ratio of 1.06 : 1. A total of 87.9% were de-novo AML and 12.1% were chronic myeloid leukemia in blastic crisis. In all, 66.6% of cases had normal cytogenetics. Underexpression of the TET2 gene was present in 90.6% (0.3098 ± 0.3846) of the patients. TET2 expression was not affected by age (P = 0.609) or cytogenetic findings (P = 0.057). Yet, it was correlated inversely with pretreatment white blood cell count (rs = −0.366, P = 0.04). It also correlated with lower remission rates (P = 0.002) and relapse (P = 0.000). TET2 probably plays a role in the pathogenesis and progression of AML. This can play a role in targeted therapy in the future. Further studies are recommended to assess TET2 expression in response to hypomethylating agents to determine its predictive role in response to therapy using these agents.