Expressions of cyclin E2 and survivin in acute leukemia and their correlation

Cyclin E2 is present in solid tumors, while its expression and clinical value in acute leukemia is unknown. This study was aimed to investigate the expression of cyclin E2 and survivin gene in bone marrow cells from patients with acute leukemia and their relationship. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction was used for detection of the expression of cyclin E2 and survivin mRNA in 84 adult patients with acute leukemia which included 16 cases of relapse, 60 cases of de novo acute leukemia, 8 cases of continuously complete remission, and 20 normal persons as controls. The results showed that (1) positive expression of cyclin E2 (70.24%) in acute leukemia patients was significantly higher than that (0%) in controls, positive expression of survivin (72.62%) in acute leukemia patients was higher than that (30%) in control. (2) the expression of cyclin E2 positively correlated with that of survivin in acute leukemia patients. (3) remission rate in cyclin E2-positive patients (55.81%) was lower than that (88.24%) in cyclin E2-negative patients, the rate of cyclin E2 expression in relapse group was the highest among the three groups; while that in continuously complete remission group was the lowest among the three groups. (4) positive rate of cyclin E2 expression (59.32%) in patients with acute myelocytic leukemia was lower than that (96%) in patients with acute lymphocytic leukemia, no correlation between cyclin E2 expression and white blood cell counts of patients was found. It is concluded that the overexpression of cyclin E2 has been confirmed for the first time to positively correlate with the expression of the survivin in acute leukemia patients, and implicate the poor prognosis. Cyclin E2 may be used as a marker for examination of minimal residual disease.