Unravelling the Impact of Aberrant Expression of LncRNA-H19 in Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Abstract

     Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) is a highly aggressive hematologic malignancy marked by the proliferation of abnormal myeloid precursors. Despite therapeutic developments, the prognosis for AML patients remains poor, primarily due to high relapse frequencies and resistance to chemotherapy. Molecular alterations are a hallmark of AML pathogenesis and are believed to impact clinical outcomes. The long non-coding RNA H19 is one of the newly identified molecular biomarkers that has emerged as a crucial regulator of leukemogenesis. In this study, H19 expression levels were analysed in 60 Iraqi de novo AML patients and 30 healthy controls to assess the prognostic significance. H19 expression levels were assessed using quantitative Real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction and then linked to overall survival, treatment response, and clinical features. Results indicated that H19 expression increased progressively from responders to non-responders and deceased patients (p < 0.0001). Longer survival and optimized response to treatment have been attributed to lower H19 expression. Kaplan-Meier analysis confirmed that high H19 expression is significantly associated with lower overall survival (p < 0.0001), and Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed attractive diagnostic accuracy (AUC = 0.831). In conclusion, H19 represents a promising molecular biomarker for predicting prognosis and treatment response in AML. Its clinical integration could enhance patient risk stratification and support the development of personalized therapeutic strategies.