Prognostic significance of immunoglobulin and T cell receptor gene rearrangements in patients with acute myeloid leukemia: Taiwan experience

We investigated the prognostic significance of lymphoid antigen receptor ge ne rearrangement in patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (A ML). Thirty-nine patients were included in the study. Clonal gene rearrange ment of immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgH) and T cell receptor beta chain (TC R beta) was found in leukemic cells in 11 (28.2%) and 10 (25.6%) patients, respectively. Five (12.8%) had both IgH and TCR beta gene rearrangements. T hree of the seven (42.9%) B-lymphoid marker-positive and eight of the 32 (2 5%) B-lymphoid marker-negative patients had clonal IgH gene rearrangements. Five of the 11 (45.5%) T-lymphoid marker-positive and 5 of the 28 (17.9%) T-lymphoid marker-negative patients had clonal TCR beta gene rearrangements . All patients were treated with similar regimens. The com complete remissi on rate (62.5% vs 65.2%, p=1.000) and median survival (13 vs 14 months, p=0 .366) were similar in patients with and without clonal IgH or TCR beta gene rearrangements. in conclusion, while clonal rearrangements of IgH or TCR b eta genes were found in AML patients, they did not appear to effect the pro gnosis.