Assessment of expression of ADAM17 gene in acute lymphoblastic leukemia in pediatric patients

Background and objectives The study aims at defining the potential prognostic relevance of a disintegrin and metalloproteinase 17 (ADAM17) gene expression in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), and its crucial significance compared with some other established clinicopathological prognostic biomarkers. Patients and methods In all, 40 newly diagnosed ALL cases and another 40 healthy individuals with matching age and sex as a control were enrolled in the study from June 2022 to December 2023. The cases were recruited from those admitted to Alexandria Main University Hospital. Total RNA, including long noncoding RNA, isolation from bone marrow aspirate samples, followed by relative quantification of ADAM17 expression was carried out. Results ADAM17 was significantly overexpressed in ALL patients compared with the control group ( P ≤0.001). ADAM17 significantly predicted remission versus nonremission in ALL patients ( P =<0.009), with patients experiencing remission exhibiting a significantly higher expression of the ADAM17 gene compared with patients who had had relapse and died (nonremission) with a lower ADAM17 expression gene with a statistically significant difference between the two fates ( P 0.009). Patients with lower expression levels of ADAM17 showed a higher incidence of relapse ( P =0.01), while patients with higher expression showed a higher incidence of remission ( P =0.007). Conclusion Our study concluded that ADAM17 is significantly expressed in ALL. ADAM17 can be a suitable marker with good sensitivity and specificity in the diagnosis and predicting the prognosis of ALL. Moreover, we concluded that there may be a strong correlation between high-ADAM17 expression level and relapse-free survival in ALL patients.