Original Articles


THE CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF MULTIDRUG RESISTANCE GENE (mdrl) EXPRESSION IN ACUTE LEUKEMIA

Zuoren Dong, Jianmin Luo, Wenxin Xu, Fuxu Wang, Xiaonan Guo, Xuejun Zhang, Ergu Yao, Shirong Xu, Jinhai Ren, Bin Cong

Abstract

Objective: To study the clinical significance of multidrug resistance gene expression in acute leukemia.
Methods: The relationships between drug resistance of leukemia cells and prognosis, multidrug resistance gene (mdrl) were examined in 85 patients with acute leukemia and 20 normal controls by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).
Results: The mdrl positive rate in untreated group was 44.7%. The complete remission (CR) rate of mdrl positive patients (23.9%) was significantly lower than that of mdrl negative patients (88.5%) (P<0.005). The mdrl expression level in relapsedrefractory group was higher than that of CR group. A gradually increased mdrl mRNA level in CR patients indicated early relapse.
Conclusion: The mdrl positive rate in normal control and long-term survival patients was very low. The mdrl expression was correlated with French-American-British Cooperative Group (FAB) dassifieatian. The mdrl expression level was correlated with chemotherapeutic effect and prognosis. It is an unfavorable prognostic factor for patients with acute leukemia.