Multiparametric analysis of apoptotic and multi-drug resistance phenotypes according to the blast cell maturation stage in elderly patients with acute myeloid leukemia

• Published in: Haematologica (Roma) Vol. 86; no. 12; pp. 1287 - 1295
• Main Authors: Suarez, L, Vidriales, B, Garcia-Larana, J, Lopez, A, Martinez, R, Martin-Reina, V, Tormo, M, Gonzalez-San Miguel, JD, Lavilla, E, Garcia-Boyero, R, Orfao, A, San Miguel, JF, PETHEMA Cooperative Group
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Italy 01-12-2001
• Subjects: Acute Disease; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Apoptosis - genetics; Blast Crisis - pathology; Drug Resistance, Multiple - genetics; Humans; Leukemia, Myeloid - genetics; Leukemia, Myeloid - metabolism; Leukemia, Myeloid - pathology; Multivariate Analysis; Neoplastic Stem Cells - metabolism; Neoplastic Stem Cells - pathology; Phenotype
• ISSN: 0390-6078; 1592-8721

Department of Hematology, University Hospital of Salamanca, Paseo de San Vicente 58-182, 37007 Salamanca, Spain.
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a heterogeneous group of malignant diseases, often characterized by coexistence of more than one subpopulation of blast cells. Multiparametric flow cytometry immunophenotyping has proven to be a reliable and sensitive approach for the discrimination of myeloid blast cells from residual normal cells present in bone marrow samples from AML patients and, at the same time, allows the identification of different maturation compartments among myeloid blasts. Therefore, it provides a unique tool for assessing apoptotic and multidrug resistance (MDR)-associated phenotypes in individual subsets of leukemic cells. DESIGN AND METHODS: The aim of the present study was to explore the simultaneous expression of proteins related to both apoptosis (APO2.7, bcl-2, bax) and multidrug resistance (MDR1, MRP, LRP) in the different blast cell subpopulations detected at diagnosis in a group of 72 elderly patients with AML. In addition, we included 5 bone marrow samples from healthy adult donors in the analysis. RESULTS: Immature blast cells (CD34+: subset I) showed a significantly higher level of bcl-2 expression (p