OBJECTIVETo investigate the expression level of SET gene in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and evaluate its significance.

METHODSThe expression level of SET gene in 141 de novo AML patients was determined by real time quantitative PCR (RQ-PCR), and its relationship with the clinical features and outcomes of these patients were analyzed.

RESULTSSET gene transcript level was detected in 141 AML patients with the median expression level of 0.86(range 0.02-15.69). AML patients with higher SET gene expression had a higher level of white blood cell (WBC ≥ 100 × 10⁹/L) count than of lower SET gene expression ones (31.0% vs 11.4%, P=0.005). In the 136 patients who received treatment after diagnosis, higher SET gene expression group had lower complete remission rate (50.0%) than of lower expression cohort (73.5%) after two cycles of chemotherapy (P=0.005). Survival analysis showed that patients with higher SET gene expression had significantly shorter overall survival(OS) (10 months vs 22 months, P=0.001) and event-free survival (EFS) (2 months vs 14 months, P=0.005) than of lower SET gene expression ones. Multivariate COX regression analysis showed SET overexpression was an independent prognostic factor for OS. In the patients with the normal karyotype, higher SET expression group also had significantly shorter OS (12 months vs 35 months, P=0.010) and EFS (4 months vs 14 months, P=0.026) than of lower SET expression ones.

CONCLUSIONHigh expression of SET gene was associated with poor prognosis and might be a prognostic molecular marker of AML.