SMYD2 is highly expressed in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia and constitutes a bad prognostic factor

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common childhood malignancy. Although several clinical characteristics can be associated with worse prognosis, more robust biological markers still remains uncovered. SMYD2, a member of SMYD protein family, regulates the activity of several proteins through methylation. In this study, we performed quantitative real time PCR to compare the expression of SMYD2 in 83 pediatric ALL patients and non-neoplastic bone marrow samples (BMS). The study revealed that SMYD2 expression is altered in ALL BMS and its high expression was correlated with a bad prognosis. Moreover, we also revealed that SMYD2 expression level significantly decreases in patients that respond to chemotherapy treatment.