title: Surface marker analysis of acute lymphocytic leukaemia in Taiwan, Republic of China.
abstract: Acute lymphocytic leukaemia (ALL) is heterogeneous in clinical characteristics and immunological properties. Standard surface marker analysis has enabled us to subclassify 121 cases of ALL into four subtypes, i.e. T-ALL, common ALL, null ALL and B-ALL. We have also tried to correlate these subtypes with their clinical characteristics. Our patients had younger ages with a mean age of 13.75. A slight male predominance was observed. There were consistently higher incidences in northern Taiwan in each subtype, but no significant differences in incidences between rural and urban areas. Although there were high incidences of L1 type cell in each immunological subtype, there was no correlation between FAB classification and each subtype, nor did morphologic features relate to cellular origins. Clinical manifestations revealed significantly high incidence of CNS involvement and thymic mass in T-ALL. Hepatosplenomegaly was more common and complete remission rate was higher in children with ALL than in adults.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000954:Antigens, Surface / Q000032:analysis*; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006801:Humans; D007945:Leukemia, Lymphoid / Q000145:classification / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012397:Rosette Formation; D012737:Sex Factors; D013624:Taiwan
chemical_list: D000954:Antigens, Surface