title: Prognostic significance of acid alpha-naphthyl acetate esterase and acid phosphatase in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
abstract: We studied the prognostic value of the enzymes acid alpha-naphthyl acetate esterase (ANAE) and acid phosphatase (AP) in 89 children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Follow-up data were available for 61 out of 67 cases of non T- non B-ALL, which were treated in different hospitals according to the same protocols. Sex, age, initial white blood cell count (WBC) and number of high risk patients (WBC above 25 X 10(9)/l) were comparable between enzyme-positive and -negative cases. The probabilities of complete continuous remission (CCR) were virtually identical in the AP+ and AP- group. For the ANAE+ group the probability of CCR was lower than for the ANAE- group, but this difference was not statistically significant (0.10 greater than p greater than 0.05). Within the common-ALL group (n = 32), no difference was found in probability of CCR between the AP+ and AP- group but ANAE+ cases had a significantly lower probability of CCR than ANAE- cases. This study is a contribution to the view that the cytochemical profile of ALL cells may have prognostic value.
mesh_terms: D000135:Acid Phosphatase / Q000032:analysis; D000293:Adolescent; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000201:enzymology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006651:Histocytochemistry; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007945:Leukemia, Lymphoid / Q000201:enzymology*; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000201:enzymology; D008297:Male; D009283:Naphthol AS D Esterase / Q000032:analysis*; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D011379:Prognosis
chemical_list: D009283:Naphthol AS D Esterase; D000135:Acid Phosphatase