Microarray-based analysis and clinical validation identify ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E2E1 (UBE2E1) as a prognostic factor in acute myeloid leukemia

BACKGROUND: Previous research suggested that single gene expression might be correlated with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) survival. Therefore, we conducted a systematical analysis for AML prognostic gene expressions. METHODS: We performed a microarray-based analysis for correlations between gene expression and adult AML overall survival (OS) using datasets GSE12417 and GSE8970. Positive findings were validated in an independent cohort of 50 newly diagnosed, non-acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) AML patients by quantitative RT-PCR and survival analysis. RESULTS: Microarray-based analysis suggested that expression of eight genes was each associated with 1-year and 3-year AML OS in both GSE12417 and GSE8970 datasets (p < 0.05). Next, we validated our findings in an independent cohort of AML samples collected in our hospital. We found that ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E2E1 (UBE2E1) expression was adversely correlated with AML survival (p = 0.04). Multivariable analysis showed that UBE2E1 (high) patients had a significant shorter OS and shorter progression-free survival after adjusting other known prognostic factors (p = 0.03). At last, we found that UBE2E1 expression was negatively correlated with patients’ response to induction chemotherapy (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In summary, we demonstrated that UBE2E1 expression was a novel prognostic factor in adult, non-APL AML patients. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13045-016-0356-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.