Expression of the Evi-1 gene in myelodysplastic syndromes
Dreyfus, F.; Bouscary, D.; Melle, J.; Ribrag, V.; Guesnu, M.; Varet, B.
Leukemia 9(1): 203-205
1995
ISSN/ISBN: 0887-6924 PMID: 7845018 Document Number: 450516
Increased expression of the proto-oncogene Evi-1 has been shown to block the in vitro granulocytic differentiation of myeloid cells in response to granulocytic colony-stimulating factor and to interfere with the proliferation of erythroid cells in response to erythropoietin. We determined the frequency of Evi-1 expression in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), a disorder with altered proliferation and differentiation in the erythroid and myeloid lineages. Twenty-one patients were studied. Abnormal expression was found in 1/9 patients with refractory anemia and in 7/12 patients with refractory anemia with excess of blasts (RAEB) or in transformation (RAEBt). No correlation could be found between expression of Evi-1 and age, sex, hemoglobin level and percentage of bone marrow blasts or erythroblasts. This result suggests that the high incidence of Evi-1 expression which remains at low levels in RAEB and RAEBt is not a major determinant of ineffective erythropoiesis and myelopoiesis in MDS.