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CD34 expression is associated with poor clinical outcome in patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia
Author(s) -
Lee JeJung,
Cho Duck,
Chung IkJoo,
Cho SangHee,
Park KyeongSoo,
Park MooRim,
Ryang DongWook,
Kim HyeoungJoon
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
american journal of hematology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.456
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1096-8652
pISSN - 0361-8609
DOI - 10.1002/ajh.10337
Subject(s) - cd34 , medicine , acute promyelocytic leukemia , gastroenterology , clinical significance , leukemia , oncology , immunology , biology , stem cell , genetics , retinoic acid , gene
This study investigated the clinical characteristics and prognostic relevance of CD34 expression in 47 patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), showing t(15;17) or PML/RARα . Ten (21.3%) of the APL patients were CD34 + . CD34 expression was associated with hypogranular morphology ( P = 0.002) and hyperleukocytosis ( P = 0.015). However, there were no statistically significant differences in age, sex, hemoglobin level, platelet count, or percentage of blasts between the CD34 + and CD34 − APL groups. Multiplex RT‐PCR analysis showed that the L‐form ( BCR1 ) and S‐form ( BCR3 ) were correlated with CD34 − APL and CD34 + APL, respectively. Despite the lack of a difference in the complete remission rate, overall survival (OS) and disease‐free survival (DFS) were significantly lower in the CD34 + group than in the CD34 − group ( P = 0.012 and P = 0.0051, respectively). By multivariate analysis, the CD34 + group showed a significant independent variable in DFS compared with the CD34 − group, but this was not demonstrated for OS. In conclusion, CD34 expression in APL is a unique clinical feature associated with leukocytosis and atypical morphology with hypogranular pattern and is associated with a poor clinical outcome. Am. J. Hematol. 73:149–153, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.