Expression of Wilms' Tumor Gene（WT1） in Leukemia Patients and Its Clinical Significance

［Abstract］Objective　To evaluate the expression of WT1 gene in leukemia patients and its clinical implication．Method　Nest RT-PCR technique was applied to examine WT1 gene expression in 200 patients with leukemia．Results　The WT1 mRNA positive rates in acute myeloid leukemia and lymphoblastic leukemia were 79.2%（76/96）and 57.1%（32/56）. In chronic myeloid leukemia，WT1 mRNA was undetectable in chronic phase; but was revealed in 8 of 14 patients at blast crisis（57.1%）. The rate of remission in the patients positive for WT1 was lower than in those negative for WT1（55.7% vs 85.4%，P＜0.005）．Conclusion　The WT1 is highly expressed in the majority of the patients with leukemia and thus is involved in human leukemogenesis. WT1 may be a new prognostic factor and a panleukemia marker for the detection of MRD.