Flow cytometric quantification and immunophenotyping of leukemic stem cells in acute myeloid leukemia.
Leukemic stem cells (LSCs) are root of clonal growth in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and responsible for the propagation of leukemic blasts (LBs). LSCs are considered as CD34 + CD38- population among LBs and often express as CD123, CD44, or CD184, which are rarely expressed on normal hematopoietic stem cells and could be the potential therapeutic targets. Using multi-color flow cytometry, we analyzed the proportions of CD34 + CD38- LSCs and expression of CD123, CD44, and CD184 on LSCs in 63 patients with AML. The median proportion of LSCs was 1.3 % (0.0-33.1 %) at the time of diagnosis. Of all patients, 74.6 % of them had CD123-positive LSCs, all patients had CD44-positive LSCs, and 85.7 % had CD184-positive LSCs, respectively. The proportions of LSCs were significantly lower in the complete remission (CR) group compared with non-CR group (P = 0.006). The lower proportions of LSCs in CR group indicated that measurement of the proportion of LSCs might be helpful to predict the prognosis of AML.
Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of Ulsan College of Medicine and Asan Medical Center, 388-1 Pungnap-2dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul 138-736, South Korea.
Keumrock
K
Hwang
Chan-Jeoung
CJ
Park
Seongsoo
S
Jang
Hyun-Sook
HS
Chi
Dae-Young
DY
Kim
Jung-Hee
JH
Lee
Je Hwan
JH
Lee
Kyoo Hyung
KH
Lee
Ho-Joon
HJ
Im
Jong-Jin
JJ
Seo
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry / Q000379:methods*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D016130:Immunophenotyping / Q000379:methods*; D007223:Infant; D015470:Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014411:Neoplastic Stem Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D055815:Young Adult