SEARCH:   Advanced

Prepublished online as a Blood First Edition Paper on June 5, 2003; DOI 10.1182/blood-2002-12-3822. This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 2002-12-3822v1 102/6/2014    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Rights and Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Cimino, G. Articles by Mandelli, F. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Cimino, G. Articles by Mandelli, F. Related Collections Neoplasia Oncogenes and Tumor Suppressors Clinical Trials and Observations Social Bookmarking                   What's this?  Previous Article  |  Table of Contents  |  Next Article  Blood, 15 September 2003, Vol. 102, No. 6, pp. 2014-2020 CLINICAL OBSERVATIONS, INTERVENTIONS, AND THERAPEUTIC TRIALS Clinico-biologic features and treatment outcome of adult pro-B-ALL patients enrolled in the GIMEMA 0496 study: absence of the ALL1/AF4 and of the BCR/ABL fusion genes correlates with a significantly better clinical outcome Giuseppe Cimino, Loredana Elia, Marco Mancini, Luciana Annino, Barbara Anaclerico, Paola Fazi, Antonella Vitale, Giorgina Specchia, Francesco Di Raimondo, Anna Recchia, Antonio Cuneo, Cristina Mecucci, Fabrizio Pane, Giuseppe Saglio, Robin Foà, and Franco Mandelli, the GIMEMA group From the Dipartimento di Biotecnologie Cellulari ed Ematologia, University "La Sapienza" Rome; Azienda Ospedaliera S. Giovanni-Addolorata, Rome; Ematologia Policlinico, University of Bari; Cattedra di Ematologia, Ospedale Ferrarotto, Catania; Ematologia Clinica, Ospedale Civile Spirito Santo, Pescara; Hematology Unit, University of Ferrara; Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Sperimentale, Universiy of Perugia; Ematologia, University "Federico II" Napoli; and Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche ed Oncologia Umana, University of Turin, Italy. To elucidate the biologic and clinical heterogeneity of adult pro-B acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) (ie, terminal deoxynucletidyl-transferase–positive[TdT+], CD19+, CD10–, surface immunoglobulin–negative [SIg–]), we evaluated 66 patients enrolled in the Italian multicentric Gruppo Italiano Malattie Ematologiche dell'Adulto (GIMEMA) 0496 study between October 1996 and December 1999. The ALL1/AF4 fusion transcript, originating from the t(4;11) translocation, was detected in 24 patients (36.4%), and the BCR/ABL chimeric product was found in 6 patients (9%), while the remaining 36 cases (54.6%) were ALL1/AF4-BCR/ABL–negative. A white blood cell (WBC) count higher than 50 x 109/L was found in 13 of 24, 2 of 6, and 6 of 36 of the ALL1/AF4-positive, BCR/ABL-positive, and ALL1/AF4-BCR/AB–negative patients, respectively (P = .007). None of the 24 ALL1/AF4-positive patients coexpressed the CD13 and/or CD33 myeloid antigens. By contrast, CD13 and CD33 molecules were detected, respectively, in 3 of 6 and in 14 of 33 cases of the BCR/ABL-positive patient group, and in 2 of 6 and 9 of 35 cases of the ALL1/AF4-BCR/ABL–negative patient group. These differences still remained statistically significant even if the BCR/ABL-positive patients were excluded from the analysis. A complete remission (CR) was achieved in 52 (83.4%) of the 62 patients with ALL evaluable for response to treatment. CR rates were similar in the 3 genotypic groups. By contrast, comparing patients with or without the ALL1/AF4 gene the probability of remaining in continuous complete remission (CCR) at 3.5 years was 16% and 49.8%, respectively (P = .005). Our data demonstrate that in adult pro-B-ALL a distinction should be made between pro-B-ALL cases with and without the ALL1/AF4 or the BCR/ABL chimeric genes, since the absence of both of these fusion genes correlates with a significantly better clinical outcome after intensive polychemotherapy treatment without hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this? This article has been cited by other articles: S. Chiaretti, X. Li, R. Gentleman, A. Vitale, K. S. Wang, F. Mandelli, R. Foa, and J. Ritz Gene Expression Profiles of B-lineage Adult Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia Reveal Genetic Patterns that Identify Lineage Derivation and Distinct Mechanisms of Transformation Clin. Cancer Res., October 15, 2005; 11(20): 7209 - 7219. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

	Copyright © 2003 by American Society of Hematology         Online ISSN: 1528-0020