EIF3B Associates with Exacerbated Clinical Features, Poor Treatment Response and Survival in Adult Philadelphia Chromosome Negative Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Patients

Objective: This study was undertaken to investigate eukaryotic translation initiation factor 3 subunit B (EIF3B) expression and its clinical value for indicating disease progression and prognosis in adult Philadelphia chromosome negative acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph(−) ALL) patients. Methods: Totally, 76 adult Ph(−) ALL patients and 30 healthy donors (HDs) were included. Bone marrow (BM) samples before therapy (baseline), after 4-week therapy of Ph(−) ALL patients and the BM samples of HDs were collected. Then, EIF3B expression in BM was detected by reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Results: EIF3B expression was increased in Ph(−) ALL patients compared with HDs, which distinguished Ph(−) ALL patients from HDs (area under the curve [AUC]: 0.928; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.882−0.974) by receiver operating characteristic curve. Furthermore, higher baseline EIF3B expression was associated with elevated white blood cell and bone marrow blasts, while it was associated with lower complete remission (CR) within 4 weeks and less allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant achievements in Ph(−) ALL patients. Additionally, higher baseline EIF3B expression was associated with decreased disease-free survival but not overall survival. However, it was associated with raised 1-year mortality and 3-year mortality in Ph(−) ALL patients. After 4-week therapy, EIF3B expression was reduced in total Ph(−) ALL patients. Notably, the reduction of EIF3B expression was more obvious in Ph(−) ALL patients who achieved CR within 4 weeks compared with Ph(−) ALL patients who did not achieve CR within 4 weeks. Conclusion: EIF3B overexpression is related to worsened clinical features, poor treatment response and survival in adult Ph(−) ALL patients.