Expression of the interleukin 6 gene in acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes: a report on 49 cases.
We studied the expression of IL 6 gene in 49 patients, including 21 chronic myelomonocytic leukemias (CML), 9 other myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), 18 acute myeloid leukemias (11 M2 or M3 and 7 M4 or M5) and 1 case of acute biphenotypic lymphoid monocytic leukemia. IL 6 was found expressed only in the latter patient and in one patient with M5 acute myeloid leukemia. DNA analysis by Southern blot revealed no rearrangement in these 2 patients and in 10 of the other patients who showed no IL 6 expression. These results do not support an autocrine role for IL 6 in CMML or in other MDS. In acute myeloid leukemias, if expressed by leukemic cells, IL 6 seems to be restricted to cases with a monocytic component, although the number of patients was too small to draw any definite conclusion.
Collyn d'Hooghe
M
M
Unité 124 INSERM, Institut de Recherches sur le Cancer, Lille, France.
Fenaux
P
P
Lantoine
D
D
Loucheux-Lefebvre
M
M
Kerckaert
J P
JP
D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000032:analysis; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D015470:Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute / Q000235:genetics*; D015477:Leukemia, Myelomonocytic, Chronic / Q000235:genetics; D009190:Myelodysplastic Syndromes / Q000235:genetics*
D004273:DNA, Neoplasm; D015850:Interleukin-6