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Soluble Fas and Fas ligand and prognosis in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia

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Abstract

The soluble forms of Fas and its ligand (sFas and sFasL) correlate with disease progression in various malignancies. We compared serum levels of sFas and sFasL in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and healthy children to determine the prognostic significance of these molecules. Serum levels of sFas and sFasL were measured with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 48 patients with newly diagnosed childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia and 38 healthy children. Cut-off values of sFas and sFasL levels were based on their levels in controls. Clinical and laboratory characteristics were recorded on admission. The mean serum concentration of sFas was 243 ± 40 pg/mL in patients and 238 ± 29 pg/mL in controls. Serum levels of sFasL were 4.33 ± 0.25 ng/mL in patients and 4.27 ± 0.11 ng/mL in controls. Neither difference was significant. Based on the cut-off value, 12.5% of the patients were positive for sFas, and 16.6% were positive for sFasL. Survival was significantly longer in sFasL-positive patients (394 ± 69.6 vs. 254 ± 24.3 days) and the duration of complete remission was also longer (380 ± 65.0 vs. 246 ± 26.0 days) than in sFasL-negative patients (P < 0.02), indicating the important role of this molecule in the response to therapy. Higher sFas levels were associated with hepatosplenomegaly (P < 0.047). In conclusion, sFasL positivity was associated with a favorable outcome in ALL patients.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grant no. 4724 from Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. We thank Saied Malek Hoseini and the head nurses of the pediatric oncology ward of Amir Hospital in Shiraz for help with liaising with the patients, K. Shashok (AuthorAID in the Eastern Mediterranean) for improving the use of English in the manuscript, and M. Gholami at the Center for Development of Clinical Research of Nemazee Hospital for research assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Immunology, Shiraz Medical School, Medicinal and Natural Products Chemistry Research Center and Autoimmune Diseases Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, 71345-1798, Shiraz, Iran

    Mina Fathi & Zahra Amirghofran

  2. Department of Pediatrics, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

    Mehdi Shahriari

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  1. Mina Fathi
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  2. Zahra Amirghofran
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Correspondence to Zahra Amirghofran.

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Fathi, M., Amirghofran, Z. & Shahriari, M. Soluble Fas and Fas ligand and prognosis in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Med Oncol 29, 2046–2052 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12032-011-9965-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12032-011-9965-1

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