Immunophenotypic subtyping of leukemic cells from Iranian patients with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia: association to disease outcome

Immunophenotypic characterization of the leukemic cells has been widely used as a tool for diagnosis, classification, stratification and prognosis of leukaemia. To investigate the immunophenotypic subtype profiles of Iranian patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia [ALL] and its association to disease outcome. In this study, a total of 60 Iranian patients with ALL were immunophenotyped by flow cytometry using a panel of monoclonal antibodies specific for CD2, CD3, CD5, CD10, CD13, CD14, CD19, CD20, CD33, CD34, CD45, HLA-DR and TdT molecules. The samples were initially categorized into T-ALL [n=9], B-ALL [n=50] and mixed lineage [n=1] based on the expression patterns of CD3 and CD19 molecules. B-ALL patients could further be classified into four subtypes, including Pro-B [n=7, 11.7%], Pre-B I [n=28, 46.7%], Pre-B II [n=13, 21.7%] and immature/mature B cells [n=2, 3.3%] on the basis of expression of CD10, CD19, CD20, HLA-DR and TdT. Clinical manifestations and laboratory findings of the patients did not reveal association with immunophenotypic sub-types of ALL, with the exception of mediastinal mass and WBC count at the time of diagnosis which were found to be significantly higher in patients with T-ALL compared with B-ALL [p=0.001 and 0.014], respectively. Our results indicate that overall the immunophenotypic profile of Iranian ALL patients is similar to previous reports and it might be used for monitoring of minimal residual disease and prognosis

HLA class II allele and haplotype frequencies in Iranian patients with acute myelogenous leukemia and control group

Previous studies have demonstrated some significant differences in HLA allele frequencies in leukemic patients and normal subjects. We have analyzed HLA class II alleles and haplotypes in 60 Iranian patients with acute myelogenous leukemia [AML] and 180 unrelated normal subjects. Blood samples were collected after obtaining informed consents. From the patients and control DNA extraction and HLA typing were performed using PCR-SSP method. Significant positive association with the disease was found for HLA-DRB1*11 allele [35% vs. 24.7%, p=0.033]. Two alleles including HLA-DRB4 and -DQB1*0303 were found to be significantly decreased in patients compared to controls. Regarding haplotype analysis, no significant association was found between case and control groups. It is suggested that HLA-DRB1*11 allele plays as a presumptive predisposing factor while the HLA-DRB4 and -DQB1*0303 alleles are suggested as protective genetic factors against acute myelogenous leukemia. Larger studies are needed to confirm and establish the role of these associations with acute myelogenous leukemia