Childhood acute lyphoblastic leukaemia : Arabian perspective

Abstract EN

The immunophenotypic pattern of acute lymphoblastieleukemia (ALL) varies with raee and ^graphical location.

The pattern in Eastern Saudi Arabia was not reported before.

Ob jective : This study was performed to compare the pattern of childhood ALL immunophenoty pe in Eastern Saudi Arabia with those previously reported in other parts of the world.

Design, settings, & sub.؛ects: Analysis of 32 consecutive cases of childhood ALL seen in Eastern Saudi Arabia (1991-1996) was performed.

Immunophenotype was analyzed by flowcytometry of blood and bone marrow samples.

Results : In the 32 analysed cases, common ALL was the commonest phenotype (68.7 %).

?re-B and B-ALL accounted for 9.3 % each.

Early pre-B ALL and T-ALL were the least common each accounting for 6.2 %.

Mixed lineage leukemia occurred in 3% of cases.

Interpretation : These findings suggest lower prevalence of T-ALL and early ?re-B ALL in Arabs.

The most prevalent phenotype is common ALL as in the rest of the world.

Conclusion : In this study we found that the immunophenotypic pattern of childhood ALL is different in Arabs which may influence the outcome of the disease in this population.