Myeloperoxidase expression in acute myeloid leukemia helps identifying patients to benefit from transplant

Despite extensive study, the use of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) vary considerably. The decision of which of these options to choose is complex and depends on both clinical and molecular variables as well as the availability and histocompatability of donor stem cells. So far there is no clear explanation on whether the expression of myeloperoxidase (MPO) relates to the prognosis of AML.

We retrospectively analyzed the prognostic significance of the MPO expression in the 140 patients with diagnosed AML treated at a single institution.

In our study, MPO expression was associated with disease-free survival (DFS) and transplant was beneficial to overcome a negative prognostic effect of MPO-negative at diagnosis based upon the result that the DFS in patients received transplants are not significant between the MPO-positive group and MPO-negative group although DFS in all patients was different according to MPO expression.

MPO expression at diagnosis helps to choose therapy for each AML patient and can differentiate AML patients who need transplantation.