C59T mutation in exon 2 of monocytic leukemia-associated antigen-34 gene indicates a high risk of recurrence of acute myeloid leukemia

Monocytic leukemia-associated antigen-34 (MLAA-34) is a novel monocytic leukemia-associated antigen and a candidate oncogene. The aim of the present study was to investigate the involvement of the MLAA-34 gene in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). MLAA-34 expression level, chromosome location, gene copy number and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of 40 patients with AML and 5 healthy volunteers were analyzed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, fluorescence in situ hybridization and DNA sequencing. The effects of MLAA-34 mutation on overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) of patients with AML were also analyzed. MLAA-34 was significantly upregulated in patients with AML when compared with volunteer controls, and this upregulation was associated with a C59T SNP site located in the second exon of MLAA-34. MLAA-34 was mapped to 13q14.2 and no translocation was observed in patients with AML. In addition, this SNP site is affinitive to the well-known molecular markers of AML, including Fms-like tyrosine kinase 3 and DNA methyltransferase 3A, as well as extramedullary lesions, periphery leukocyte numbers, remission and cytogenetic abnormalities of patients with AML. Patients with AML with MLAA-34 C59T mutations had significantly shorter OS and PFS times compared with that of patients without C59T mutations. The present findings indicated that the MLAA-34 C59T mutation was a high-risk factor for recurrence of AML, and may be a candidate target for AML therapy.