•  
  •  
 

Article Type

Original Study

Abstract

Background: Several lines of evidence have shown that inactivation of tumor suppressor genes is closely associated with tumorigenesis in a wide variety of hematological malignancies. The role of downexpression of the RIZ1 gene in hematological malignancy has been reported in many studies, but its levels after receiving induction therapy in these patients have not been evaluated, which was the aim of this study. Objective: The current study aimed to find the relationship between expression of RIZ1 in cases of hematological malignancies before the start of induction therapy and at the end of induction therapy and its possible role as a risk factor in disease progression. Patients and methods: The study included two groups of patients: group I included 26 newly diagnosed patients with hematological malignancies before the start of induction therapy (day 0) and group II included 12 patients at the end of induction therapy (day 28). Group III included 10 individuals with another indication for bone marrow (BM) (such as peripheral blood unexplained cytopenia) who were age and sex matched with the patients and were enrolled in the study as a control group. The following investigations were performed for all the participants: complete blood count, BM sample for morphological examination, immunophenotyping, and cytogenetic analysis. The levels of RIZ1 gene expression were detected by real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) at diagnosis (day 0) and after induction therapy (day 28). Results: The mean levels of RIZ1 gene expression in day 0 patients were significantly lower than those of the control group, and at the end of induction therapy (on day 28), the level was significantly increased to reach close to that in the healthy controls. Furthermore, the levels of the RIZ1 gene were negatively correlated with the blast cell counts in peripheral blood and BM. Conclusion: We conclude that the RIZ1 gene is downexpressed in leukemic patients and its levels increased after induction therapy, indicating its possible role in disease pathogenesis. The relationship between its level and risk factors suggests its role in disease progression. A large-scale study is recommended for the use of the RIZ1 gene in the therapy of hematologic malignancies.

Share

COinS