Myeloid Antigen Positivity in Turkish Children With Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Lacks Influence on Prognosis

Introduction: Several studies have suggested that the presence of myeloid antigens is a poor prognostic factorin patients with acute lymphoid leukemia (ALL).
Objective: We aimed to assess this possibility in Turkish patients.Materials and
Methods: Seventy-three children with a diagnosis of ALL-L1 and 38 with ALL-L2 were included.Flow cytometry and fluorescein-isothiocynate conjugated antibodies were used to determined surface antigens onblasts.
Results: Myeloid antigens were positive in 48.4% with ALL-L1 and 60.5% with ALL-L2, the differencenot being significant. Overall survival rates of myeloid antigen positive patients at 36, 60, and 72 months were76%, 58%, and 48%, respectively, comparable to the corresponding 70%, 56%, and 46% in myeloid antigennegative patients (p >0.05).
Conclusion: We did not find any association between myeloid antigen positivity andclinical and laboratory features of ALL.