Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a clonal hematopoietic stem cell malignancy in which immature hematopoietic cells proliferate and accumulate in the bone marrow, peripheral blood and other tissues. Some patients may have the emergence of abnormal myeloid clones in the bone marrow, termed clonal hematopoiesis, years before diagnosis.
It accounts for 25% of all types of leukemia being the most common leukemia in adults, and is ranked as the sixth highest cause of death because of cancer in males worldwide. AML has greater predominance in the elderly compared to the overall population.
Integrin alpha7 (ITGA7), a member of the extracellular matrix binding proteins and one of the integrin family of adhesion molecules, is located on chromosome 12p13 and consists of over 27 exons spanning a region of about 22.5 kb. It participates in various cellular processes and has been recognized as a tumour promoter in a number of solid carcinomas.