Immuno-phenotypes and prognosis of acute leukemia in elderly patients.

OBJECTIVE This study is to provide reliable experimental treatment options for the diagnosis of acute leukemia, prognosis analysis and the detection of minimal residual disease. We observed the bone marrow CD123/CD117/CD34/HLA-DR antigen expression in 64 elderly patients with acute leukemia (AL). METHODS The immune phenotypes of 64 elderly AL patients were detected and the correlations of CD123, HLA-DR, CD34 and CD117 expression with the leukemia cell morphology were analyzed. The cell genetics, molecular biology and the prognostic stratification were compared based on flow cytometry. RESULTS In CDl23-positive patients, the complete remission (CR) rate was 21.5%. In CDl23-negative patients, the CR rate was 59.1%. The CR rate was 21.9% in HLA-DR-positive patients and 43.8% in HLA-DR-negative patients. The CR rate was 24.0% in CD34-positive patients and 41.1% in CD34-negative patients. The CR rate was 29.0% in CD117-positive patients and 42.3% in CD117-negative patients. The CR rate was 34.4% in CD38-positive patients and 0.00% in CD38-negative patients. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that CD123(+), CD117(+), CD34(+), and HLA-DR(+) are the factors related with the poor prognosis of elderly patients with acute leukemia.