PODXL2 Expression Is Associated with Inferior Survival, Adverse-Risk Features, and Distinct Transcriptional Programs in Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Abstract

Simple Summary Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a biologically diverse blood cancer with markedly different outcomes among patients. Current risk-classification systems do not fully capture this variability, highlighting the need for additional biomarkers that may refine risk stratification and prognostic assessment. In this study, we investigated the expression of podocalyxin-like 2 (PODXL2), which has been linked to cancer progression in several solid tumors but has not been well studied in AML. By analyzing two large patient datasets, we found that higher PODXL2 expression was associated with poorer survival, adverse genetic features, distinct biological characteristics, and differences in responses to certain anticancer drugs. These findings suggest that elevated PODXL2 expression is associated with adverse disease characteristics in AML, although its ability to improve prognostic prediction beyond established clinical risk factors appears limited. Further laboratory and clinical studies are needed to determine the biological and clinical significance of PODXL2 in AML.