Circulating Monocytic Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells Are Elevated and Associated with Poor Prognosis in Acute Myeloid Leukemia

الملخص EN

Background.

Monocytic myeloid-derived suppressor cells (M-MDSCs) characterized with the phenotype of CD14+HLA-DRlow/- have attracted a lot of attention in the field of human tumor immunology.

However, little is known about the roles of M-MDSCs in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) as opposed to their multiple roles in solid tumors.

Methods.

We examined the frequencies of M-MDSCs identified for CD14+HLA-DRlow/- by flow cytometry in the peripheral circulating blood of 109 newly diagnosed adult patients with AML and 30 healthy controls (HC).

Then, we, respectively, validated the clinic significance of circulating M-MDSCs on the relevance of spectral features for diagnostic stratification, induction therapy response, treatment effect maintenance, and long-term survival in AML.

Results.

Circulating M-MDSC frequencies of AML were significantly higher than those of HC both in CD14+ monocytes (46.22%±2.95% vs.

1.07%±0.17%, p<0.01) and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) (4.21%±0.80% vs.

0.17%±0.03%, p<0.01).

Elevated circulating M-MDSCs in patients with AML were significantly associated with low complete remission (CR) rate, high relapse/refractory rate, and poor long-term survival, but had no correlation with common clinic risks and cytogenetic molecular risk categories.

Conclusions.

It was demonstrated that circulating M-MDSCs are elevated and associated with poor prognosis in AML, suggesting M-MDSCs might be a prognostic indicator for AML.