International Journal of General Medicine (Oct 2020)
Combined Expression of CD34 and FLT3-Internal Tandem Duplication Mutation Predicts Poor Response to Treatment in Acute Myeloid Leukemia
Abstract
Mona S Abdellateif,1 Amira B Kassem,2 Yomna M EL-Meligui3 1Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Unit, Cancer Biology Department, National Cancer Institute, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt; 2Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Practice Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Damanhour University, Damanhur, Egypt; 3Clinical Pathology Department, National Cancer Institute, Cairo University, Cairo, EgyptCorrespondence: Mona S AbdellateifMedical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Cancer Biology Department, National Cancer Institute, Cairo University Fax + (202)23644720Email [email protected]: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a common hematological malignancy associated with different cytogenetic and genetic abnormalities.Methods: FLT3-internal tandem duplication (FLT3/ITD) mutation and CD34 expression levels were assessed in the bone marrow (BM) aspirates of 153 de novo AML patients. Data were correlated with relevant clinic-pathological features of the patients, response to treatment, disease-free survival (DFS), and overall free survival (OS) rates.Results: FLT3-ITD mutation was detected in 27/153 (17.6%) AML patients (P=0.001), and CD34 was expressed in 83/153 (54.2%) patients (P=0.293) compared to those with wild FLT3 and CD34− expression, respectively. Patients with FLT3-ITD mutation showed increased peripheral blood and BM blast cells, abnormal cytogenetics, poor DFS and OS compared to those with wild FLT3 (P=0.013, P< 0.001, P=0.010, P=0.008 and P=0.004, respectively), while there was no significant association with response to treatment (P=0.081). There was no significant association between CD34 expression and response to treatment, DFS, and OS (P> 0.05). FLT3-ITD mutation and FAB subtypes were independent prognostic factors for DFS. Older age ≥ 39 years, HB < 7 mg/dL PB blast ≥ 54%, and FLT3-ITD mutation were independent prognostic factors for poor OS in AML patients. The presence of both FLT3-ITD mutation and CD34 expression associated significantly with resistance to therapy (P=0.024), short DFS and OS rates (P=0.006, P=0.037, respectively).Conclusion: Combined expression of both FLT3-ITD mutation and CD34 expression is an important prognostic and predictive factor for poor disease outcome in AML patients.Keywords: acute myeloid leukemia, AML, FLT3-ITD, CD34
