title: CD90/Thy-1 is preferentially expressed on blast cells of high risk acute myeloid leukaemias.
abstract: Different transformation mechanisms have been proposed for elderly acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) and secondary AML (sAML) when compared with de novo AML or AML of younger patients. However, little is known regarding differences in the immunophenotypic profile of blast cells in these diseases. We systematically analysed, by flow cytometry, 148 patients affected by de novo (100 cases) or sAML (48 cases). By defining a cut-off level of 20% of CD34+ cells co-expressing CD90, the frequency of CD90+ cases was higher in sAML (40%) versus de novo AML (6%, P < 0.001), elderly AML (>60 years) (24%) versus AML of younger patients (10%, P = 0.010) and poor- versus good-risk karyotypes (according to the Medical Research Council classification, P < 0.001). The correlation between CD90 expression, sAML and unfavourable karyotypes was confirmed by analysing the subset of CD34+ AML cases alone (91/148). Consistently, univariate analysis showed that expression of CD90 was statistically relevant in predicting a shorter survival in CD90+ AML patients (P = 0.042). Our results, demonstrating CD90 expression in AML with unfavourable clinical and biological features, suggest an origin of these diseases from a CD90-expressing haemopoietic progenitor and indicate the use of CD90 as an additional marker of prognostic value in AML.
authors.affiliation: Chair of Hematology, University Tor Vergata and Ospedale S. Eugenio, Viale Oxford 81, 00133 Rome, Italy. francesco.buccisano@uniroma2.it
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Buccisano
authors.forename: Francesca Maria
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.forename: Adriano
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Venditti
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Del Poeta
authors.forename: Maria Christina
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Cox
authors.forename: Elisabetta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Abbruzzese
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rupolo
authors.forename: Massimiliano
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Berretta
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Degan
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Russo
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tamburini
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Maurillo
authors.forename: Maria Ilaria
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Del Principe
authors.forename: Massimiliano
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Postorino
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Amadori
authors.forename: Valter
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gattei
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015153:Blotting, Western; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007621:Karyotyping; D007951:Leukemia, Myeloid / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010641:Phenotype; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D012334:RNA, Neoplasm / Q000032:analysis; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D012307:Risk Factors; D016019:Survival Analysis; D018800:Thy-1 Antigens / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012334:RNA, Neoplasm; D018800:Thy-1 Antigens