Prognostic significance of the Musashi-2 (MSI2) gene in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia

The prognostic value of the Musashi-2 (MSI2) gene has not yet been studied in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). In our study, MSI2 mRNA levels of 119 childhood patients with newly-diagnosed ALL were examined and analyzed with regard to clinical characteristics and outcomes. ALL patients demonstrated significantly higher MSI2 mRNA levels than healthy controls. In addition, MSI2 mRNA levels were correlated with the disease status and IK6 mutation status. Survival analyses showed that higher MSI2 mRNA levels predicted worse outcomes in patients with childhood ALL. Moreover, in multivariate analyses, MSI2 mRNA overexpression retained its value as an independent risk factor for overall survival (OS), but not for event free survival (EFS). We conclude that high MSI2 mRNA level predicts adverse prognosis and seems to be useful as a novel prognostic factor for patients with childhood ALL.