The Wilms tumor gene (WT1) has been reported to be a prognostic factor and a marker for the detection of minimal residual disease (MRD) in acute leukemia.
Using competitivepolymerase chain reaction procedures, we examined the expression of the WT1 gene in acute leukemia patients with several tumor-specific DNA markers, including bcr/abl, PML/RARα, and AML1/MTG8.
A strong correlation was observed between the levels of WT1 and PML/RARα expression. However, AML1/MTG8 transcripts were detected at all stages of the disease even when the expression level of WT1 gene was low.
From these findings, we concluded that monitoring the WT1 expression level is a useful means of determining the effectiveness of chemotherapy, and that WT1 is an effective marker for the detection of MRD, especially in acute myeloid leukemia patients with AML1/MTG8.
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