Analysis of HFE and TFR2 gene mutations in patients with acute leukemia

There are increasing evidences regarding the association between iron overload and extra-hepatic malignancies. We studied the prevalence of 12 hereditary hemochromatosis (HH) gene mutations (C282Y, V53M, V59M, H63D, H63H, S56C, Q127H, E168Q, E168X, W169X and Q283P in the HFE gene and Y250X in the TFR2 gene) and its correlation with the iron status in 82 adult patients with acute leukemia (AL); 48 patients (58.5%) were affected by acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and 34 patients (41.5%) by acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL); 27 patients (32.9%) had at least one HH gene mutation (6 heterozygous for C282Y, 6 homozygous for H63D, 13 heterozygous for H63D and 2 heterozygous for S56C). Mean serum ferritin levels at diagnosis were increased (822.5±811.4μg/L). However, there was no difference between patients positive or negative for the HH gene mutations. Similarly, we did not observe any statistically significant difference as far as iron status between AML and ALL patients. Our study does not support the evidence of an association between hemochromatosis gene mutations and iron overload in AL patients.