THE EXPRESSION OF PROLIFERATION AND QUIESCENCE ASSOCIATED ANTIGENS INACUTE MYELOID-LEUKEMIA CORRELATES WITH SURVIVAL DURATION - ANALYSIS OF 15 REFRACTORY CASES

In this study, blast cells from 15 patients with acute myeloid leukemi a resistant to induction therapy were examined with two monoclonal ant ibodies that identify, respectively, the nuclear protein specifically expressed in non proliferating cells (statin) and the proliferating ce ll nuclear antigen (PCNA). We found that statin values varied widely, ranging from 0.6% to 14.7% (mean value 6.4%). When the patients were s ubdivided according to the mean value, those presenting with higher st atin values survived for a shorter period of time than the ones charac terized by lower levels (p=0.003). We observed a wide variation in the range of PCNA values; however, if an agreement between survival durat ion and at least one of the proposed markers was considered, all but o ne case displayed concordance between survival duration and PCNA and/o r statin values (in addition, 4/15 cases showed agreement for both mar kers). These preliminary data could indicate a possible discriminating prognostic factor between categories of patients characterized by dif ferent aspects of resistance, perhaps susceptible to different salvage therapy approaches. (C) 1997, Ferrata Storti Foundation.