Background: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is one of the most malignant hematopoietic system diseases. Interferon stimulated exonuclease gene 20 (ISG20) is a protein induced by interferons or double-stranded RNA, which is associated with poor prognosis in several malignant tumors. However its expression in AML is unknown.
Objective: To explore the expression of ISG20 in AML and its prognostic significance.
Methods: The expression of ISG20 in AML patients was analyzed by GEPIA database, detected by qRT-PCR and their prognosis was followed-up. Chi-square test was used to identify the association between ISG20 expression and clinical characteristics of the patients. Kaplan-Meier analysis was performed to draw survival curves and Cox regression analysis to confirm the independent prognostic factors of AML patients.
Results: Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that whether to receive treatment, karyotype, and ISG20 expression were related to overall survival time of AML patients (P< 0.05). Cox regression analysis showed that whether to receive treatment (HR = 0.248, 95% CI = 0.076-0.808, P= 0.021) and high expression of ISG20 (HR = 4.266, 95% CI = 1.118-16.285, P= 0.034) were independent unfavorable prognostic factors for AML patients.
Conclusion: The high expression of ISG20 acts as a poor prognosis indicator in AML patients.
Keywords: Acute myeloid leukemia; ISG20; interferon; prognosis; survival times.