Changes of adult T cell leukemia cell surface antigens at relapse or at
exacerbation phase after chemotherapy defined by use of monoclonal
antibodies
Y Yamada, S Kamihira, T Amagasaki, K Kinoshita, M Kusano, S Ikeda, K Toriya, J Suzuyama and M Ichimaru
Surface phenotypes of leukemic cells from six patients with adult T cell
leukemia (ATL) were analyzed by the use of monoclonal antibodies, both at
the time of initial diagnosis and at either relapse or exacerbation phase
after chemotherapy. Changes of cell surface antigens were observed in four
of the six cases. The majority of the leukemic cells of these patients were
reactive with anti-Leu-1 and anti-Leu-3a, but unreactive with anti-Leu-2a
and MAS 036c monoclonal antibodies at the time of initial diagnosis,
indicating that ATL cells are of peripheral inducer/helper T cell origin.
In three cases, the Leu-1 antigen disappeared at relapse or at exacerbation
phase, and in one of these cases, a small percentage of ATL cells became
reactive with MAS 036c, which identifies cortical thymocyte antigen. ATL
cells of one other case did not have Leu-1 antigen from the start, but
gained Leu-2a antigen at exacerbation phase and became double-labeled cells
(Leu-2a+, 3a+), which is known to be a feature of thymocytes. Thus, it
appeared that ATL cells sometimes change their surface phenotype to that of
an earlier stage of T cell differentiation at relapse or at exacerbation
phase. Chronic myelocytic leukemia (CML) cells also usually change to
immature cells at blastic crisis involving morphological change. However,
this morphological change was not so prominent in the ATL cases studied,
except one, in which typical ATL cells with nuclear indentation changed to
large immature cells with basophilic cytoplasm at relapse.
Volume 64,
Issue 2,
pp. 440-444,
08/01/1984
Copyright © 1984 by The American Society of Hematology
