Association between increased incidence of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) DNAemia and acute myeloid leukemia among adult patients | ||||
Egyptian Pharmaceutical Journal | ||||
Articles in Press, Corrected Proof, Available Online from 28 August 2025 | ||||
Document Type: Original Article | ||||
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Abstract | ||||
Background Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a severe hematological malignancy and constitutes the common type of leukemia in adults, and FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) mutations represent a prognostic marker in AML. Furthermore, human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a globally spread opportunistic pathogen that has been implicated in different malignancies. Objective This study aims to describe the incidence of HCMV DNAemia in AML and to investigate the associations between HCMV DNAemia and AML risk, demographic parameters, and the FLT3 internal tandem duplication (ITD) mutation in adult AML patients. Materials and methods This study involves a total of 104 subjects (52 healthy control subjects and 52 adult AML patients). Baseline hematological measurements were recorded for all subjects. All of adult AML patients underwent FLT3-ITD mutation evaluation. By application of real time PCR, HCMV-DNA level was determined in all subjects. Results and conclusion The chi-square result revealed a significant increase in the incidence of HCMV DNAemia in adult AML patients, 28/52 (53.846%), compared to controls, 3/52 (5.769%) (P < 0.001). Moreover, the logistic regression analysis referred to an association between the increased incidence of HCMV-DNAemia and AML risk (Odds ratio 19.055, 95% confidence intervals: 5.2615 to 69.0129, and P < 0.001). Also, a significantly higher incidence of HCMV DNAemia was observed in adult AML male patients and those ≥ 45 years old compared to females and those < 45 years old (P < 0.001 and 0.006, respectively). Additionally, the chi-square result revealed no significant change in the incidence of HCMV DNAemia among adult AML patient groups based on AML subtypes (P 0.086). Moreover, HCMV DNAemia was not found in adult AML patients with positive FLT3-ITD mutation compared to those with negative FLT3-ITD mutation (P 0.016). Furthermore, the logistic regression results revealed the absence of an association between the incidence of HCMV DNAemia and either AML subtypes or the incidence of FLT3-ITD mutation in adult AML patients. It is concluded that the increased incidence of HCMV DNAemia is well established in adult AML patients, associated with AML risk. Moreover, the increased incidence of HCMV DNAemia is associated with males and older age, but not with AML different subtypes and FLT3-ITD mutation in the studied cohort of adult AML patients. | ||||
Keywords | ||||
Acute myeloid leukemia; human cytomegalovirus; DNAemia; FLT3-ITD mutation; prognostic marker | ||||
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