The level of peripheral blood circulating CD34+ cells is higher in acute promyelocytic leukemia patients with adverse prognostic factors

Abstract

Introduction: The increased flow cytometry enumeration of peripheral blood circulating CD34+ cells in patients with acute leukemia has been found in our previous work. In this study, we also demonstrated that acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) patients not only had elevated CD34+ cell count, but also had some clinical features.

Methods: Fifty APL patients and 19 healthy volunteers were included in the study. The enumeration of circulating CD34+ cells, cytogenetic subgroup, immunophenotype analysis, and leukemic-related gene mutation detection were performed.

Results: Some APL patients with higher count of CD34+ cells (≤10 × 10⁶/l) usually possessed one or more poor prognostic factors (higher WBCs count, PML/RARa gene complex fusion, chemotherapy-related APL, normal karyotype/complex karyotype abnormalities, CD56/CD34 antigen positive expression, FLT3-ITD positive mutation, myelofibrosis, and marrow necrosis). A cut-off value of 10 × 10⁶/l CD34+ cells may have the power to distinguish APL patients with above adverse clinical prognostic factor from other APL subjects.

Conclusion: The circulating CD34+ cell count appears to increase in some APL patients and a higher CD34+ cell count may be indicative of inferior survival and serve as an adverse biomarker for APL.

Keywords:

• Circulating CD34+ cells
• Peripheral blood
• Acute promyelocytic leukemia

Disclaimer statements

Contributors Hui Zeng designed this study and collected the cases, Lingdi Yin wrote the article, Qi-Guo Zhang, Ping Li, Yan-hui Yuan, Chao-Yang Guan, Ting Xie checked and revised this paper.

Funding None.

Conflict of interest statement We declare that we have no financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that can inappropriately influence our work, there is no professional or other personal interest of any nature or kind in any product, service and/or company that could be construed as influencing the position presented in, or the review of this manuscript.

Ethics approval Ethical approval was not required.