Many studies have confirmed that overexpressed WT1 exists in leukemic cells, especially in AML. However, the immunophenotypic features of this sort of leukemic cells remain to be unclarified. We retrospectively analyzed the immunophenotype of 283 newly diagnosed AML patients with intermediated and poor cytogenetic risk to evaluate the correlation between phenotype and WT1 overexpression. EVI1 transcripts, KMT2A-PTD, FLT3-ITD, and NPM1 mutations were simultaneously assessed. Our results revealed that overexpressed WT1 was significantly associated with the expression of CD117, CD13, and CD123. Besides, leukemic cells with WT1 overexpression also lacked lymphoid and myeloid differentiation-related markers. FAB subtype M2 patients had higher WT1 levels, compared with other FAB subtype. Multivariate analysis was proved that NPM1 mutation, M2 subtype, and the expression of CD123 were independently associated with WT1 overexpression. These indicated that AML with overexpressed WT1 was proliferated and blocked in the early stage of AML development. It presumably provided some clues to detect overexpressed WT1 cells via multiparameter flow cytometry. CD123-targeted drugs might become one of the alternative treatments for patients with WT1 overexpression.
Keywords: Acute myeloid leukemia; CD123; Immunophenotype; NPM1 mutation; WT1 expression.