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Low number of invariant NKT cells is associated with poor survival in acute myeloid leukemia

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Abstract

Background

T lymphocytes play an important role in the immunosurveillance of patients with hematologic malignancies. No study has so far examined the association between the number of lymphocyte subsets at diagnosis and overall survival (OS). We examined this relationship in adult patients with de novo acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

Methods

A longitudinal prospective study was conducted on 28 AML patients. Peripheral blood (PB) and bone marrow (BM) were obtained before chemotherapy to quantify the number of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, natural killer (NK), invariant NKT (iNKT), and type-1 and type-2 dendritic cells. The Kaplan–Meier and Cox proportional hazard model were used to determine significant association between the number of each cell subtype and survival.

Results

BM counts of CD4+ lymphocytes >506.11/μL and CD8+ T lymphocytes >556.02/μL and a PB count of iNKT cells <0.2/μL were associated with poor OS by univariate analysis (P = 0.015, P = 0.009, P = 0.033 respectively). Multivariate analysis showed that an iNKT count <0.2 cells/μL is an independent prognostic factor for OS.

Conclusion

An iNKT cell number of <0.2/μL confers a poor prognosis in de novo AML patients.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported in part by a grant from Fundación Gonzalo Río Arronte I.A.P. and by a grant from SIP-IPN 20110713. A. Nájera Chuc is a fellow of CONACYT (No. 205687); ERM is EDI and COFAA fellow. ERM, LAMC, and JVO are SNI fellows. The experiments performed in the present paper complied with the current laws of México and were approved by the Ethical Committee in “La Raza” Medical Center.

Conflict of interest

No potential conflicts of interest were disclosed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Morfología, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Prol. Carpio y Plan de Ayala S/N, Colonia Santo Tomás, Delegación Miguel Hidalgo, 11340, Mexico, D.F., Mexico

    Alicia E. Najera Chuc, Laura A. Montiel Cervantes, Jorge Vela Ojeda & Elba Reyes Maldonado

  2. Departamento de Hematología, Hospital de Especialidades “Antonio Fraga Mouret”, Centro Médico Nacional “La Raza”, IMSS, Mexico, D.F., Mexico

    Laura A. Montiel Cervantes, Flor Pérez Retiguin & Jorge Vela Ojeda

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  1. Alicia E. Najera Chuc
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  2. Laura A. Montiel Cervantes
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  3. Flor Pérez Retiguin
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  4. Jorge Vela Ojeda
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  5. Elba Reyes Maldonado
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Correspondence to Elba Reyes Maldonado.

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Najera Chuc, A.E., Cervantes, L.A.M., Retiguin, F.P. et al. Low number of invariant NKT cells is associated with poor survival in acute myeloid leukemia. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 138, 1427–1432 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-012-1251-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-012-1251-x

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