The role of malnutrition at diagnosis as a predictor of early mortality in Mexican leukemia children remains controversial. The objective of present study was to investigate whether malnutrition was a predictor of early mortality during the first year of treatment in Mexican acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) children through the first population-based study. A total of 794 newly diagnosed ALL pediatric patients from public hospitals of Mexico City were enrolled. A multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression model was constructed and adjusted by patient's age at diagnosis, gender, hospital of treatment, and socioeconomic status. Early mortality was high (12.1%) and malnutrition by different indicators was not associated with mortality at induction phase and at 6th month; a high risk of dying (RR = 2.08; 95% CI: 1.08-4.01) was observed in the group of malnourished children with a high-risk ALL.

Mexico has one of the highest incidences of childhood leukemia worldwide and significantly higher mortality rates for this disease compared with other countries. One possible cause is the high prevalence of gene rearrangements associated with the etiology or with a poor prognosis of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The aims of this multicenter study were to determine the prevalence of the four most common gene rearrangements [ETV6-RUNX1, TCF3-PBX1, BCR-ABL1, and MLL rearrangements] and to explore their relationship with mortality rates during the first year of treatment in ALL children from Mexico City. Patients were recruited from eight public hospitals during 2010–2012. A total of 282 bone marrow samples were obtained at each child's diagnosis for screening by conventional and multiplex reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction to determine the gene rearrangements. Gene rearrangements were detected in 50 (17.7%) patients. ETV6-RUNX1 was detected in 21 (7.4%) patients, TCF3-PBX1 in 20 (7.1%) patients, BCR-ABL1 in 5 (1.8%) patients, and MLL rearrangements in 4 (1.4%) patients. The earliest deaths occurred at months 1, 2, and 3 after diagnosis in patients with MLL, ETV6-RUNX1, and BCR-ABL1 gene rearrangements, respectively. Gene rearrangements could be related to the aggressiveness of leukemia observed in Mexican children.

Acute leukemia (AL) is the main type of cancer in children worldwide. Mortality by this disease is high in developing countries and its etiology remains unanswered. Evidences showing the role of the long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in the pathophysiology of hematological malignancies have increased drastically in the last decade. In addition to the contribution of these lncRNAs in leukemogenesis, recent studies have suggested that lncRNAs could be used as biomarkers in the diagnosis, prognosis, and therapeutic response in leukemia patients. The focus of this review is to describe the functional classification, biogenesis, and the role of lncRNAs in leukemogenesis, to summarize the evidence about the lncRNAs which are playing a role in AL, and how these genes could be useful as potential therapeutic targets.

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