Cd117 expression and serum cd117 in acute non lymphoid leukemia ,

Abstract EN

Objective : the c-kit proto-oncogene encodes a 145 KDa tyrosine kinase transmembrane receptor that binds stem cell factor (SCF).

The c-kit has been classified as CD117 and the monoclonal antibody is claimed to be useful in immunophenotyping of acute leukemia.

Many studies stated that c-kit is a reliable and specific marker to detect leukemic cells committed to the myeloid lineage regardless of the French-American British (FAB) subtype.

Soluble c-kit (sc-kit, kits, s-kit) is produced by proteolytic cleavage of the cell surface receptor.

Patients And Methods : in this work, detailed phenotyp-ing and CD117 surface expression were performed on 60 patients with acute myeloid leukemia; 56 newly diagnosed, 2 relapsing AML and 2 biphenotypic leukemia (BAL).

The cases comprised 35 males and 25 females with ages ranging from 4 months to 82 years.

Assay of serum CD117 was performed by ELISA on 50 of the AML cases and 15 age-and sex-matched healthy subjects as a control.

Results : surface expression of CD117 was detected in 24.1 % of AML cases.

It was detected in 27.6 % of the adults and in 20.7 % of the children.

There was a significant correlation between CD117 surface expression and CD34 expression (p = 0.001).

Concordance between CD34 and CD117 expression was encountered in 50 cases (86.2 %), both positive in 12 (20.68 %) and both negative in 38 (65.5 %).

No significant correlation was encountered between CD117 surface expression and its serum level (p = 0.823).

There was no significant correlation between CD117 and FAB subtypes.

Conclusion : CD117 / CD34 expression and / or sCD117 may be used for detection and follow up of patients of MRD.