Prognostic significance of aberrant expression of CD markers in acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Abstract

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) forms a heterogeneous group of disorders with a characteristic set of CD markers. Nowadays, these markers are used for the classification of hematopoietic malignancies and are a basis for diagnosis of leukemia. Unusual expression of CD markers as different immunophenotype of lymphoblasts is known as the aberrant expression of markers. The frequency of this phenomenon has been reported to be nearly 30% in different studies. Immunophenotype of precursor B‑cell leukemia involves the likely expression of myeloid CD markers (CD13 and CD33). In precursor T‑cell leukemia, myeloid markers (CD13 and CD33) are frequent but CD117 is rare. On the other hand, the presence of multiple translocations is also associated with a higher or lower level of aberrant markers that could be effective in changing the prognosis of patients. Further studies are needed to confirm the relationship between aberrant expression with prognosis and response to treatment of ALL.