Impact of insulin-like growth factor 1 and insulin-like growth factor binding proteins on outcomes in acute myeloid leukemia

Abstract

Our objective was to explore associations of circulating factors implicated in insulin-like growth factor- 1 receptor (IGF-1R) signaling with clinical outcomes of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Pretreatment blood samples from patients with non-M3 AML (n = 30) were collected prospectively and levels of IGF binding proteins (IGFBPs) 1–7 and IGF-1 (free and total) were established at diagnosis and statistically evaluated. Baseline levels of IGFBP-1 and -6 below respective thresholds of 8.8 ng/mL and 237 ng/mL were associated (p = 0.0347 and 0.0099, respectively) with superior progression-free survival, whereas baseline levels of IGFBP −1, −2, −6 and −7 below the respective thresholds of 8.8, 28.8, 237 and 119 ng/mL were strongly associated (p = 0.0004, 0.0085, 0.0031, 2.46 × 10^{− 7}, respectively) with improved overall survival. These findings provide promising evidence that IGFBP signatures could be used as predictive tools in AML, with applications in remission surveillance and the development of IGFBP-directed biologic therapy.

Keywords::

• AML
• IGF-1
• IGFBPs
• clinical outcome
• Luminex

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the cancer center staff for their assistance and the patients for participating in this study at Rush University Medical Center.

Potential conflict of interest:

Disclosure forms provided by the authors are available with the full text of this article at www.informahealthcare.com/lal.

This project was funded in part by the Leukemia Pilot Project Grant from the Rush University Cancer Center. Funds were also graciously provided by the Samuel G. Taylor III chair.

Supplementary material available online

Table showing ranges of level of expression measured for members of the IGF-1 axis