CLINICAL AND BIOLOGIC CHARACTERISTICS OF CD7-LEUKEMIA - OUR EXPERIENCE AND LITERATURE-REVIEW( ACUTE MYELOID)

Six patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) expressing CD7 antigen (CD7(+) AML) were studied. They consisted of five patients with M1 and one with an M2 morphology. Two cases expressed other lymphoid-associa ted antigens, in addition to CD7. The complete remission rate was 50%. One patient had central nervous system recurrence. Cytogenetic analys is demonstrated normal karyotypes in all the cases. All but one had ge rmline configurations of the T-cell receptor (TCR) genes and immunoglo bulin heavy chain gene. However, all did not have detectable recombina se activating gene-1 activity by the RT-PCR technique. We performed co lony formation assay in two patients, and no enhancement of colony for mation by granulocyte colony-stimulating factor was noted. The results presented here, together with those reported previously, suggest that CD7(+) AML may demonstrate lineage infidelity.