title: Immunophenotypic characteristics of acute leukaemia after myelodysplastic syndromes.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To analyse the immunophenotype of acute leukaemia (AL) after myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) (MDS-AL) and to compare the immunophenotypic profile of acute myeloblastic leukaemia (AML) secondary to MDS (MDS-AML) with that of "de novo"-AML.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty patients with MDS-AL and 29 patients with "de novo"-AML were studied. Morphocytochemical and flow cytometric studies were done in each case.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All the MDS-AL studied displayed a myeloid phenotype (MDS-AML). The main difference between MDS-AML and "de novo"-AML was a significantly higher frequency of CD34 expression in the first group. Differences concerning the expression of other non-lineage related or myeloid-associated markers were not statistically significant, although the percentage of cases CD15(+) was lower in MDS-AML. The overall frequency of expression of lymphoid-associated markers was similar in both groups, T-cell markers being more frequently detected.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings support the usefulness of immunophenotyping studies to characterize MDS-AL and suggest some immunophenotyping differences between MDS-AML and "de novo"-AML which might have biological and prognostic significance.
authors.affiliation: Service of Clinical Hematology, S. Antonio's General Hospital, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lima
authors.forename: M dos A
authors.initials: Mdos A
authors.lastname: Teixeira
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Morais
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cunha
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Coutinho
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pinho
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Justiça
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D015470:Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute / Q000276:immunology*; D009190:Myelodysplastic Syndromes / Q000150:complications*
chemical_list: D015703:Antigens, CD