Single‑cell RNA sequencing (scRNA‑seq) of bone marrow or peripheral blood samples from patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) enables the characterization of heterogeneous malignant cells. A total of 87 cells from two patients with t(8;21) AML were analyzed using scRNA‑seq. Clustering methods were used to separate leukemia cells into different sub‑populations, and the expression patterns of specific marker genes were used to annotate these populations. Among the 31 differentially expressed genes in the cells of a patient who relapsed after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, 13 genes were identified to be associated with leukemia. Furthermore, three genes, namely AT‑rich interaction domain 2, lysine methyltransferase 2A and synaptotagmin binding cytoplasmic RNA interacting protein were validated as possible prognostic biomarkers using two bulk expression datasets. Taking advantage of scRNA‑seq, the results of the present study may provide clinicians with several possible biomarkers to predict the prognostic outcomes of t(8;21) AML.
Keywords: acute myeloid leukemia; single-cell RNA-sequencing; prognosis.