Prognostic and predictive value of a microRNA signature in adults with T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma

New prognostic factors are needed to establish indications for haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in first complete remission (CR1) for T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma (T-LBL) patients. We used microarray to compare T-LBL tissue samples (n = 75) and fetal thymus tissues (n = 20), and identified 35 differentially expressed miRNAs. Using 107 subjects as the training group, we developed a five-miRNA-based classifier to predict patient survival with LASSO Cox regression: lower risk was associated with better prognosis (disease-free survival (DFS): hazard ratio (HR) 4.548, 95% CI 2.433–8.499, p < 0.001; overall survival (OS): HR 5.030, 95% CI 2.407–10.513, p < 0.001). This classifier displayed good performance in the internal testing set (n = 106) and the independent external set (n = 304). High risk was associated with more favorable response to HSCT (DFS: HR 1.675, 95% CI 1.127–2.488, p = 0.011; OS: HR 1.602, 95% CI 1.055–2.433, p = 0.027). When combined with ECOG-PS and/or NOTCH1/FBXW7 status, this classifier had even better prognostic performance in patients receiving HSCT (DFS: HR 2.088, 95% CI 1.290–3.379, p = 0.003; OS: HR 1.996, 95% CI 1.203–3.311, p = 0.007). The five-miRNA classifier may be a useful prognostic biomarker for T-LBL adults, and could identify subjects who could benefit from HSCT.