title: B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL): a report of 17 pediatric cases.
abstract: METHODS
  B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) presents FAB L3 morphology and surface Ig, CD19, CD20, CD24. This pattern may show some morphological and immunological heterogeneity. Seventeen pediatric cases of B-ALL at onset, treated in twelve AIEOP Centers (Italian Association for Pediatric Hematology and Oncology), are presented.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Clinical and hematological features were characterized by low WBC counts at presentation, high M/F ratio, older age and association with extramedullary involvement. The overall survival curve at 78 months is 40%. All patients showed blasts positive for surface Ig (sIg), DR, CD19, and CD24. Ten/17 cases presented the classical features of B-ALL: FAB L3 morphology, sIg+ restricted to light chains, CD20+, cytoplasm mu (c mu)-, CD10-, TdT-. The remainder showed some differences in this pattern, such as non-L3 morphology (3 cases), absence of CD20 (3 cases), CD10+ (4 cases), TdT+ (3 cases), c mu+ (1 case), lack of surface light chains (1 case). This rare ALL subset seems to be characterized by a high phenotype heterogeneity, indicating various degrees of differentiation.
authors.affiliation: Istituto Giannina Gaslini, Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rosanda
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cantù-Rajnoldi
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Invernizzi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Castagni
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Di Cataldo
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fenu
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Forni
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Frappampina
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Granchi
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Miano
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000032:analysis; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis; D002051:Burkitt Lymphoma / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002869:Chromosome Aberrations; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D015994:Incidence; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D015993:Life Tables; D008297:Male; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D011379:Prognosis; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins