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Relapse of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in Children in the Context of Microarray Analyses

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Archivum Immunologiae et Therapiae Experimentalis Aims and scope

Abstract

Over the last four decades the treatment of patients with newly diagnosed childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) has improved remarkably. However, still about 20% of children with ALL relapse despite risk-adapted polychemotherapy. The prognosis of relapsed ALL is relatively poor, even with modern aggressive chemotherapy. Identification of the biological and genetic mechanisms contributing to recurrence in patients with ALL is critical for the development of effective therapeutic strategies to treat refractory leukemic patients. Allogeneic hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation is the treatment of choice for many children with relapsed ALL. The gene expression profile obtained by microarray technology could provide important determinants of the drug response and clinical outcome in childhood ALL. Incorporation of the data on expression levels of newly identified genes into existing strategies of risk stratification might improve clinical management. Current microarray data show correlation of in vitro drug resistance with significant patterns of gene expression and explain clinical differences between early and late relapse. Genes involved in cell proliferation, self-renewal and differentiation, protein biosynthesis, carbohydrate metabolism, and DNA replication and repair are usually among those highly expressed in relapsed lymphoblasts. Current status and future perspectives of microarray data on gene expression and drug resistance profile in relapsed pediatric ALL are discussed in this review.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by Grant MNiSW No. N407 078 32/2964.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Collegium Medicum, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Curie-Skłodowskiej 9, 85-094, Bydgoszcz, Poland

    Joanna Szczepanek, Jan Styczyński & Mariusz Wysocki

  2. Department of Biotechnology, Institute of Molecular Biology, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Toruń, Poland

    Joanna Szczepanek & Andrzej Tretyn

  3. Department of Clinical Genetics, Collegium Medicum, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Bydgoszcz, Poland

    Olga Haus

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  1. Joanna Szczepanek
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  2. Jan Styczyński
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  3. Olga Haus
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  4. Andrzej Tretyn
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  5. Mariusz Wysocki
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Correspondence to Jan Styczyński.

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Szczepanek, J., Styczyński, J., Haus, O. et al. Relapse of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in Children in the Context of Microarray Analyses. Arch. Immunol. Ther. Exp. 59, 61–68 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00005-010-0110-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00005-010-0110-1

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