title: Plasma soluble interleukin-2 receptor (sIL-2R) levels in patients with acute leukemia.
abstract: The plasma soluble interleukin-2 receptor (sIL-2R) level was higher in 137 patients with acute leukemia (1,489 +/- 1,798 U/ml, including 98 cases of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), 1,063 +/- 1,414 U/ml, and 39 cases of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), 2,561 +/- 2,194 U/ml), compared to 49 normal control subjects, 421 +/- 151 U/ml). The ALL patients showed elevated plasma sIL-2R levels more frequently than the AML patients (92.3% vs 44.9%). No patient with either hypoplastic AML or AML with multilineage dysplasia and only 1 of 13 patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) had an elevated plasma sIL-2R level. All the My+ ALL patients (15 cases) showed elevated plasma sIL-2R levels. Plasma sIL-2R levels were significantly lower after chemotherapy in the ALL patients, but were not significantly lower in the AML patients. IL-2R was expressed on the leukemic cells in 36 (53.7%) of 67 AML and in 9 (21.4%) of 42 ALL cases. None of the AML M3, M4, M5, M6, or M7 subgroups showed IL-2R expression. The My+ ALL patients (42.9%, 6/14) showed IL-2R expression more frequently than the other ALL subgroups (10.7%, 3/28) (p = 0.025). The plasma sIL-2R level was correlated with the proportion of leukemic cells expressing IL-2R in acute leukemia. However, there were many cases, particularly ALL cases, who had elevated plasma sIL-2R levels without IL-2R expression on their leukemic cells. These results suggest that the plasma sIL-2R level is a valuable marker for monitoring ALL after chemotherapy, particularly in My+ ALL cases, and that the T cell immune reaction to leukemia appears to be much higher in ALL patients than in AML patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Pathology, Catholic University Medical College, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Yeonsook
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Moon
authors.forename: Yonggoo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Myungshin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jihyang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Chang Suk
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Won Il
authors.initials: WI
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Sang In
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Shim
authors.forename: Nak Gyun
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Yoon Hee
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Woo Sung
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Min
authors.forename: Kyungja
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Han
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007951:Leukemia, Myeloid / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2 / Q000097:blood*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2