IMMUNOPHENOTYPES IN MEXICAN CHILDREN WITH ACUTE LYMPHOBLASTIC-LEUKEMIA - AN EXPERIENCE FROM A SINGLE INSTITUTION

This study covers a total of 186 consecutive children with the cytomor phological diagnosis in bone marrow cells of acute lymphoblastic leuke mia (ALL) over a period of 3 years. The bone marrow cells of all patie nts were submitted to a panel of monoclonal antibodies to determine th e immunophenotype. The patients' ages ranged from 6 months to 15 years , with a median of 6.8 years. Of 153 children (82%) between 1.5 and 10 years of age, 55.9% were male, and 86% came from rural and semirural areas and small cities. All the children were Mexican-born native citi zens. Pre-B CD10+ was present in 75% of the children, being significan t with all other types of ALL (P < 0.00001). The largest populations o f pre-B CD10+ (130 children) were found in the group between 1.5 and 1 0 years of age. Of the male children 73% had T ALL, while 60% were fem ale with the B ALL type. A total of 57% of the pre-B CD10+ group were male, while in the pre-B CD10- category the same percentages were fema le. A correlation with the French-American-British (FAB) group classif ication revealed that 134 of 186 (72%) were L1 type and that pre-B CD1 0+ represented the largest group (112 patients). When compared with th e other FAB subtypes, the difference demonstrated a P < 0.00001 with L 2 and of P < 0.00024 with L3. We conclude that to our knowledge this i s the first report of immunophenotypes in Mexican children with ALL, a nd in spite of the racial and social characteristics of our population , the prevalence of pre-B CD10+ is suggested.