Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is a complex haematological malignancy characterised by a clonal expansion of the myeloid progenitor. Factors such as molecular/cytogenetic abnormalities influence the prognosis of this condition. However, gender predominance in AML and how it influences the outcome of the condition has not been studied. Raw data of 20,000 gene expressions in 180 AML patients were retrospectively retrieved from the Cancer Genome Atlas Genomic Data Commons portal. A linear model was fitted to calculate the impact of each gene on the overall survival. The coefficient value was set to 2, and a P value of < 0.01 was set to denote significance. Almost twice as many male patients were at poor cytogenetic risk than females regardless of their vital status. Male-abundant genes were highly expressed in patients with poor prognosis. However, none of these genes correlated with previously reported genes, such as FLT3. It was noted that many of the highly expressed genes in patients with poor prognosis were dominant in male patients. The lack of correlation between these genes and previously established genes indicate that male patients are at a higher risk of developing more severe forms of AML and carry a poorer prognosis than females.

AML, gender, genetics, prognosis