title: Plasma level of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) correlates with leukocytosis and biological features of leukemic cells, but not treatment response of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
abstract: We have analyzed the clinical significance of the plasma level of tumor necrosis-alpha (TNF-alpha) detection in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) at diagnosis. 49 patients (pts) with B-lineage ALL (3-17 years of age) and 30 healthy children (age-related control) were enrolled in study. The mean value of the level of TNF-alpha was 43.4 +/- 8.1 pg/ml in ALL pts and 30.7 +/- 3 pg/ml in control. In ALL pts the level of TNF-alpha positively correlated with blast cell count in peripheral blood (R = +0.432; P = 0.008); negatively correlated with percentages of S-phase leukemic cells (R = -0.446; P = 0.042) and culture-induced apoptotic cells (R = -0.411; P = 0.057). Pts with TNF-alpha level above the median value were characterized by higher WBC count (P = 0.025), lower percentage of S-phase leukemic cells (P = 0.02) and tendency to lower percentage of apoptotic cells (P = 0.07) vs pts with TNF-alpha level below the median value. No significant association of the level of TNF-alpha with treatment response at days 8 and 15 or 3-year overall survival was defined. We conclude that the elevated plasma level of TNF-alpha is a useful marker to assess disease activity/progression, but not prognosis of childhood B-lineage ALL.
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Potapnev
authors.forename: N V
authors.initials: NV
authors.lastname: Petyovka
authors.forename: M V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Belevtsev
authors.forename: V P
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: Savitskiy
authors.forename: N V
authors.initials: NV
authors.lastname: Migal
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D017209:Apoptosis; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood*; D001752:Blast Crisis; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D007964:Leukocytosis / Q000097:blood*; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D012016:Reference Values; D013997:Time Factors; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha