Abstract
The prognostic impact of minimal disseminated disease (MDD) and anti-anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) antibody titer in children with ALK-positive anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) was reported by an Italian/German group. Here, we examine their prognostic value in Japanese children with ALK-positive ALCL. We evaluated nucleophosmin (NPM)-ALK transcripts in 60 patients at diagnosis by RT-PCR and real-time PCR (qPCR). The antibody titer was assessed in 35 patients. Fifty-two percent were MDD positive by RT-PCR and 37% had more than 10 copies of NPM-ALK per 104 copies of ABL (10NCNs) by qPCR. Fifty-one percent of 35 patients had high antibody titer (>1/750). Progression-free survival (PFS) of the patients with >10 NCNs or low antibody titers was significantly poorer than that of patients with ≤10 NCNs or high antibody titers (>1/750) (P=0.016, 0.029), respectively, although we observed no difference in PFS associated with positive MDD on RT-PCR. On stratification using a combination of MDD and antibody titer, PFS for patients with >10 NCNs and low antibody titer was extremely low (30.0%). Combined evaluation of MDD and anti-ALK antibody titer at diagnosis may thus be valuable for stratification of treatment for childhood ALCL.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
