Immunophenotypic characteristics of early T-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Early T-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ETP-ALL) is a recently recognized T-ymphoblastic leukemia subgroup with poor prognosis and high-risk of relapse. ETP-ALL subgroup is characterized by unique gene expression and particular cell surface markers profile. Nevertheless, this group cannot be easily detected due to its biological heterogeneity. The aim of the present study was to explore the immunophenotypic characteristics of early T-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia in ETP-ALL patient. The study group consisted of 64 patients with ETP-ALL. 380 patients with other variants of T-ALL were included to the control group. The antigen expression profile was assessed by multicolor flow cytometry. TI and TII immunological variants were detected in the group of patients with ETP-ALL. Cell markers expression level was determined in both groups. In the study group of ETP-ALL patients CD11a expression was more specific to TII-ALL, while CD33 expression – for TI-ALL. This study allowed to characterize group of patients with ETP-ALL and detected immunophenotypic heterogeneity. More interlaboratory studies are needed for understanding immunological and molecular genetic features ETP-ALL. The study was approved by the Independent Ethics Committee of the Dmitry Rogachev National Medical Research Center of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology, and Immunology.