scholarly journals ActivinA: a new leukemia-promoting factor conferring migratory advantage to B-cell precursor-acute lymphoblastic leukemic cells

Haematologica ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 104 (3) ◽  
pp. 533-545 ◽  
Author(s):  
Federica Portale ◽  
Giulia Cricrì ◽  
Silvia Bresolin ◽  
Monica Lupi ◽  
Stefania Gaspari ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
B Cell ◽  
Blood ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 132-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
B Wormann ◽  
SR Mehta ◽  
AL Maizel ◽  
TW LeBien

Experiments were conducted to determine the effect of low mol wt B cell growth factor (L-BCGF) on B cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). L-BCGF induced a significant increase in 3H-TdR incorporation in 28 of 37 bone marrow aspirates from patients with B cell precursor ALL, with stimulation indices ranging from 2 to 129. Fluorescence-activated cell sorting confirmed that in five of seven patients the common acute lymphoblastic leukemia antigen (CALLA)/CD10 positive leukemic cells were responding directly to L-BCGF. L-BCGF was capable of inducing, in some patients, an increase in absolute viable cells and could also induce colony formation in vitro. The response of B cell precursor ALL was not attributable to beta IL 1, IL 2, or gamma interferon. These results indicate that the majority of B cell precursor ALL undergo a proliferative response to L-BCGF, suggesting a regulatory role for this lymphokine in the growth of B cell precursors.


Blood ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 79 (7) ◽  
pp. 1781-1788
Author(s):  
E Privitera ◽  
MP Kamps ◽  
Y Hayashi ◽  
T Inaba ◽  
LH Shapiro ◽  
...  

The prognostically important 1;19 chromosomal translocation can alter the E2A gene on chromosome 19p13 in childhood B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), leading to formation of a fusion gene (E2A-PBX1) that encodes a hybrid transcription factor with oncogenic potential. It is not known whether this molecular alteration is a uniform consequence of the t(1;19) or is restricted to translocation events within specific immunologic subtypes of the disease. Therefore, we studied leukemic cells from 25 cases of B-cell precursor ALL, with or without evidence of cytoplasmic Ig mu heavy chains (cIg); 17 cases had the t(1;19) by cytogenetic analysis. Leukemic cell DNA samples were analyzed by Southern blotting to detect alterations within the E2A genomic locus; a polymerase chain reaction assay was used to identify expression of chimeric E2A-pbx1 transcripts in leukemic cell RNA; and immunoblotting with anti-Pbx1 antibodies was used to detect hybrid E2A- Pbx1 proteins. Of 11 cases of cIg+ ALL with the t(1;19), 10 had E2A- pbx1 chimeric transcripts with identical junctions and a characteristic set of E2A-Pbx1 hybrid proteins. Each of these cases had E2A gene rearrangements, including the one in which fusion transcripts were not detected. By contrast, none of the six cases of t(1;19)-positive, cIg- ALL had evidence of rearranged E2A genomic restriction fragments, detectable E2A-pbx1 chimeric transcripts, or hybrid E2A-Pbx1 proteins. Typical chimeric E2A-pbx1 transcripts and proteins were detected in one of eight cIg+ leukemias in which the t(1;19) was not identified by cytogenetic analysis, emphasizing the increased sensitivity of molecular analysis for detection of this abnormality. We conclude that the molecular breakpoints in cases of cIg- B-cell precursor ALL with the t(1;19) differ from those in cIg+ cases with this translocation. Leukemias that express hybrid oncoproteins such as E2A-Pbx1 or Bcr-Abl have had a poor prognosis in most studies. Thus, molecular techniques to detect fusion genes and their aberrant products should allow more timely and appropriate treatment of these aggressive subtypes of the disease.


Blood ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 128 (22) ◽  
pp. 583-583
Author(s):  
Elisabeth M.P. Steeghs ◽  
Isabel S. Jerchel ◽  
Willemieke de Goffau-Nobel ◽  
Alex Q. Hoogkamer ◽  
Judith M. Boer ◽  
...  

Abstract Background In high risk pediatric B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL) patients, gain of function mutations and translocations affecting JAK2 have been described. These mutations and translocations result in aberrant kinase signaling and may therefore serve as an ideal target for precision medicines. Aim Evaluate the frequency and prognosis of JAK2 lesions among different subtypes of childhood BCP-ALL, and study the efficacy of the JAK1/2 inhibitors momelotinib and ruxolitinib. Methods This study comprised 77 BCR-ABL1-like cases and 76 B-other cases which were screened for JAK2 translocations using RT-PCR. Furthermore a representative pediatric cohort of 461 newly diagnosed BCP-ALL cases was screened for JAK2 mutations using targeted next-generation sequencing. Clinical analyses were performed in 341 BCP-ALL patients. Patient-derived-xenograft (PDX) cells were isolated from NOD.Cg-PrkdcscidIl2rgtm1Wjl/SzJ (NSG) mice, which were injected with primary leukemic cells. Purity of PDX cells was enriched to over 90% and presence or absence of JAK2 lesions was validated. PDX and primary leukemic cells were exposed to a dilution series of momelotinib or ruxolitinib for four days. Where indicated, cells were pre-incubated with 25 ng/ml TSLP for 1 hour. In mono-culture assays, cytotoxicity was quantified using MTT and in co-culture assays flow cytometry was used. Leukemic cells were discriminated from mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) using CD19 and viability was assessed by Annexin V and Propidium Iodide. Western blotting was used to study protein expression levels. Results JAK2 translocations were detected in 6.5% of BCR-ABL1-like cases (3 PAX5-JAK2 cases, 1 TERF2-JAK2 case and 1 BCR-JAK2 case), but not in B-other cases. JAK2 mutations were identified in 3.5% of all BCP-ALL cases, which included JAK2 mutations in BCR-ABL1-like (7.6%), B-other (11.9%), and high hyperdiploid cases (1.6%), but not in MLL rearranged, BCR-ABL1-positive, ETV6-RUNX1-positive or TCF3-PBX1-positive cases. Cumulative incidence of relapse in patients harboring JAK2 lesions was as poor as in JAK2 wildtype BCR-ABL1-like and B-other patients. Efficacy of the JAK1/2 inhibitors momelotinib and ruxolitinib was examined in JAK2 lesion positive (primary and PDX) leukemic cells. Inhibitors were cytotoxic in both translocated and mutated cells, although efficacy in JAK2 mutated cells highly depended on CRLF2 activation by TSLP. CRLF2 activation resulted in downstream STAT5 activation and sensitization towards ruxolitinib compared to unstimulated cells (p < 0.05). Cells harboring JAK2 translocations signaled independently of CRLF2. Although momelotinib and ruxolitinib exposure blocked downstream STAT1/5 phosphorylation, both inhibitors also induced accumulation of phosphorylated JAK2Y1007. Consequently, release of the inhibitors resulted in a profound re-activation of JAK2 signaling, observed by upregulation of downstream STAT1/5 signaling. Furthermore, we observed microenvironment-induced resistance. Culturing leukemic cells in the presence of primary bone marrow MSCs induced resistance to ruxolitinib, compared to leukemic cells in single cultures (p < 0.05). A similar trend was observed for momelotinib. In addition, patients harboring JAK2 mutations displayed a heterogeneous leukemic cell population. Mouse xenograft models revealed different outgrowth patterns of leukemic cells, in which the JAK2 mutated clone persisted, decreased or even disappeared, resulting in outgrowth of JAK2 wildtype leukemic cells. Moreover, JAK2 mutations were not mutually exclusive for other pathway mutations (e.g. KRAS). Conclusion JAK2 translocations and mutations were detected in poor prognostic BCP-ALL cases. In ex vivo assays, the JAK1/2 inhibitors momelotinib and ruxolitinib were cytotoxic in JAK2 aberrant cells. Despite these promising findings, we identified certain limitations of these inhibitors. Inhibitors induced accumulation of phosphorylated JAK2Y1007, which resulted in a profound re-activation of JAK2 signaling upon their release. Furthermore, our data suggest that the effect of JAK inhibition may be compromised by mutations in alternative survival pathways and by microenvironment-induced resistance. Taken together, our data yield important directives for the clinical use of JAK inhibitors in pediatric BCP-ALL. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Blood ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 124 (21) ◽  
pp. 62-62
Author(s):  
Roel Polak ◽  
Marc B. Bierings ◽  
Cindy S. van der Leije ◽  
Rosanna E.S. van den Dungen ◽  
Mathijs A. Sanders ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Translocation t(12;21), resulting in the ETV6-RUNX1 fusion protein, is present in 25% of pediatric patients with B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL). Despite the favorable prognostic parameters of this B-ALL subgroup, relapse and resistance to chemotherapeutics occur and treatment-induced side effects are considerable. The molecular mechanisms underlying ETV6-RUNX1-driven leukemia are largely unknown. Increased knowledge of these mechanisms is essential to develop novel therapeutic strategies to selectively target ETV6-RUNX1-positive leukemia. Objectives: This study aims to identify and target the molecular drivers behind ETV6-RUNX1-positive BCP-ALL. Results: Gene expression profiling of leukemic blasts of 654 ALL patients revealed that the class III PI3-kinase Vps34, an important regulator of autophagy, was exclusively up-regulated in ETV6-RUNX1-positive compared to ETV6-RUNX1-negative BCP-ALL patients (2.7-fold; p ≤ 10-30). In addition, ectopic expression of ETV6-RUNX1 in cord blood-derived hematopoietic progenitor cells (CB-HPCs) significantly induced expression of Vps34 1.3-fold already 40 hours after transduction (p ≤ 0.05). This suggests that the Vps34-autophagy pathway is activated by ETV6-RUNX1, which may mechanistically explain the leukemogenic and pro-survival properties ascribed to ETV6-RUNX1. In correspondence, Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) predicted a pro-survival and pro-proliferative phenotype in ETV6-RUNX1 transduced CB-HPCs and highlighted a network of up-regulated transcription factors, including HEY1, EGR1, GATA1 and GATA2 (2 – 25-fold up-regulation; p ≤ 0.05). Luciferase reporter assays revealed that not only the ETV6-RUNX1 fusion protein, but also the ETV6-RUNX1-induced target genes HEY1, EGR1 and GATA1 positively regulate Vps34 promoter activity (5 – 13-fold up-regulation; p ≤ 0.01).Lentiviral knockdown experiments were performed to elucidate the importance of Vps34 expression in ETV6-RUNX1-positive BCP-ALL cells. Knockdown of all Vps34 transcript variants, with two independent constructs, led to complete growth arrest of the ETV6-RUNX1-positive cell lines REH and AT2, while this only led to a decrease in proliferation of the ETV6-RUNX1-negative cell line NALM6. This growth arrest was caused by a significant induction of apoptosis (more than 4-fold 7 days after transduction; p ≤ 0.001) and a significantly reduced percentage of cycling cells (1.3-fold 7 days after transduction; p ≤ 0.05). Analysis of p62 protein expression by western blot and reverse phase protein arrays revealed that the levels of autophagy were significantly higher in ETV6-RUNX1-positive compared to ETV6-RUNX1-negative BCP-ALL patients (p ≤ 0.001). In addition, knockdown of ETV6-RUNX1 and Vps34 significantly reduced autophagy, quantified with confocal microscopy, in ETV6-RUNX1-positive cells with 50% and 84%, respectively (p ≤ 0.01). Furthermore, pharmacological inhibition of autophagy with hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) significantly reduced cell viability of BCP-ALL cell lines and primary patient-derived BCP-ALL cells (p ≤ 0.001). Treatment of the ETV6-RUNX1-positive BCP-ALL cell lines REH and AT2 with 20 µg/mL HCQ resulted in a 82% and 95% reduced cell viability, while the viability of ETV6-RUNX1-negative BCP-ALL cell lines and T-ALL cell lines were reduced to a lesser extent (NALM6: 43%; TOM-1: 50%; Loucy: 40%; Jurkat: 0%). Importantly, HCQ selectively sensitized ETV6-RUNX1-positive leukemic cells to L-asparaginase treatment in clinically relevant concentrations. Treatment of primary ETV6-RUNX1-positive patient cells with 10 µg/mL HCQ resulted in a 70% reduction in cell survival during L-asparaginase exposure (p ≤ 0.01). This sensitization was not observed in ETV6-RUNX1-negative BCP-ALL cells. Conclusion: The ETV6-RUNX1 fusion protein activates autophagy via Vps34, which is essential for survival and proliferation of ETV6-RUNX1-positive cells. Inhibition of autophagy in primary ETV6-RUNX1-positive leukemic cells inhibited cell survival and sensitized these cells to L-asparaginase treatment. These results indicate that autophagy inhibition may provide a novel means to sensitize L-asparaginase-resistant ETV6-RUNX1-positive BCP-ALL patients. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Blood ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 110 (11) ◽  
pp. 980-980
Author(s):  
Grazia Fazio ◽  
Chiara Palmi ◽  
Antonius G. Rolink ◽  
Giovanni Cazzaniga ◽  
Andrea Biondi

Abstract PAX5 is a transcription factor essential for B-cell development. Recently, it has been found as frequent target of abnormalities in childhood ALL (30% of B-cell precursor ALL cases), showing monoallelic loss, point mutations or chromosomal translocations. The role of these lesions is still poorly understood. We previously cloned the PAX5/TEL fusion gene in a patient affected by B-cell precursor ALL with t(9;12) translocation. We investigated the functional roles of PAX5/TEL protein in vitro, in murine wild type preBI cells, primary cells derived from a wild type mouse and positive for B220, cKIT and CD19 antigens.We demonstrated that the PAX5/TEL protein acts as a transcriptional repressor, down regulating not only CD19, but also other B-lineage specific genes, such as BLNK and MB-1. In addition, PAX5/TEL down regulates FLT3, B220 and μ heavy chain expression, and it does not activate MCSFR. Moreover in PAX5−/− preBI cells, PAX5/TEL did not restore CD19 expression. Comprehensively, these findings suggest that the fusion protein functions as a dominant repressor of transcription on many PAX5-target genes. It is known that CXCL12/SDF1 is a growth factor promoting B-cell progenitor proliferation, acting as a chemo attractant to the bone marrow. In several hematopoietic malignancies, tumor cells express CXCR4, and that the CXCL12-CXCR4 axis may influence the biology of tumor, favoring the metastasis process and the tumor proliferation. Indeed, we demonstrated that PAX5/TEL enhances cell migration towards CXCL12, with over-expression of CXCR4. These phenomena could indicate that leukemic cells carrying PAX5/TEL are able to access to niches that are normally restricted to progenitor cells, and thereby reside in a microenvironment that favours their growth and survival, although this finding must be proved in vivo. Together with previous evidences on the PAX5/TEL capacity to overcome IL7 withdrawal and to interfere with TGFbeta1 pathway, we conclude that PAX5/TEL induces resistance to apoptosis and interferes with the processes of B-cell differentiation and migration. Taken together, these phenomena likely represent key events in the process of B-cell transformation.


Blood ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 126 (23) ◽  
pp. 786-786 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masaki Iwasa ◽  
Yasuo Miura ◽  
Aya Fujishiro ◽  
Sumie Fujii ◽  
Noriko Sugino ◽  
...  

The prognosis of adults with B cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL) is poor. Many cases in complete remission experience relapse of leukemia despite intensive chemotherapy or hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. This clinical observation suggests that minimal residual disease (MRD) still exists after these intensive therapies. Cell adhesion-mediated drug resistance (CAM-DR) is one of the mechanisms to support MRD in the bone marrow microenvironment (Clin Cancer Res 14:9, 2008). Mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSCs) are a cellular component of bone marrow (BM) and maintain physiological precursor B lymphopoiesis (Nature Rev Immunol 6:107, 2006). We investigated our hypothesis that survival of BCP-ALL cells is supported by their direct adhesion to BM-MSCs in BM microenvironment. First, we confirmed that BCP-ALL cells exhibited their drug resistant phenotype through adhesion to human BM-MSCs using human BCP-ALL cell line, Nalm6. We isolated human BM-MSCs from normal bone marrow samples (AllCells, Emeryville, CA). When Nalm6 cells were co-cultured with human BM-MSCs, they were prone to adhere to BM-MSCs. Nalm6 adhered to BM-MSCs (Nalm6/ad) were more resistant to the treatment with various anti-cancer drugs including doxorubicin than Nalm6 in suspension (Nalm6/su). Immunoblot analysis showed that expression level of anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 and phosphorylation level of pro-survival kinase Akt are higher in Nalm6/ad compared with those in Nalm6/su. In cell cycle analysis using Ki67/PI fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS) assay, the percentage of populations in G0 phase and S/G2/M phase was higher in Nalm6/ad compared with that in Nalm6/su, which indicated the increase of MRD and the high proliferation of leukemic cells in adhesive population, respectively. Therefore, we considered that detachment of Nalm6 from BM-MSCs is important to restore chemosensitivity of BCP-ALL cells and to eliminate these cells. Accordingly, we screened drugs that are capable of disrupting the adhesion of Nalm6 to BM-MSCs, and found that several proteasome inhibitors had a such activity. BM-MSCs were treated with bortezomib (10nM for 24h or 100nM for 1h), carfilzomib (3 nM for 24 h or 100 nM for 1 h) or oprozomib (10 nM for 24 h or 300 nM for 4 h), and then washed with PBS and co-cultured with Nalm6 cells. We confirmed that the number of BM-MSCs is not affected with these drugs irrespective of their concentration and incubation time by MTT assay. Co-cultured cells were divided into suspension cells and adherent cells. Each population was stained with monoclonal antibodies against CD19 and CD90 to detect Nalm6 and BM-MSCs, respectively, and analyzed by FACS. When BM-MSCs were pre-treated with bortezomib, carfilzomib or oprozomib, the number of Nalm6/ad was significantly decreased, and inversely, the number of Nalm6/su was increased, as compared to that of co-cultures with untreated BM-MSCs. Intriguingly, BM-MSCs treated with bortezomib showed aberrant expression of secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine (SPARC). Immunoblot analysis showed that SPARC expression of BM-MSCs was transiently increased after bortezomib treatment. In co-cultures with BM-MSCs transfected with siRNA targeting SPARC, the number of Nalm6/ad was increased. In addition, the number of Nalm6 adhered to BM-MSCs pre-treated with recombinant human SPARC was lower than that adhered to control non-treated BM-MSCs. Therefore, SPARC showed anti-adhesive property and was one of the molecules associated with adhesion of BM-MSCs to Nalm6. Finally, we tested whether bortezomib shows therapeutic effects in vivo. Bortezomib administration supported survival of BCP-ALL xenograft model mice utilizing Nalm6, which was concomitant with the decrease in leukemia cells in the femur and in the size of spleen, as compared to those in non-treated control mice. In summary, Nalm6 cells that adhered to BM-MSCs contributed to construction of chemoresistant population similar to MRD. Here, we found that this population could be detached by treatment of BM-MSCs with bortezomib through transient increase in their SPARC expression. Our findings suggest that bortezomib or other proteasome inhibitors might be promising drugs to treat BCP-ALL through attenuating the adhesion of leukemic cells to BM-MSCs, and shed new insight into a therapeutic strategy in BCP-ALL by targeting BM-MSCs. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Blood ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 92 (10) ◽  
pp. 3817-3828 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nisha Shah ◽  
LeAnn Oseth ◽  
Tucker W. LeBien

Clonal expansion of B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is potentially regulated by survival, growth, and death signals transduced by the bone marrow (BM) microenvironment. Using a human BM stromal cell culture that supports the growth of normal human B-cell precursors, we established a pre-B ALL cell line designated BLIN-2. BLIN-2 has a clonal rearrangement of the Ig heavy chain locus, a dic(9;20) chromosomal abnormality, and a bi-allelic deletion of thep16INK4a and p19ARF genes. The most interesting feature of BLIN-2 is an absolute dependence on adherent human BM stromal cells for sustained survival and growth. BLIN-2 cultured in the absence of BM stromal cells undergo apoptosis, and direct contact with viable BM stromal cells is essential for optimal growth. BLIN-2 cells also grow on vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1)–negative human skin fibroblasts, making it unlikely that a very late antigen-4 (VLA-4)/VCAM-1 interaction is required for BLIN-2 growth. Western blot analysis of BLIN-2 cells cultured in the presence or absence of BM stromal cells demonstrates that contact of BLIN-2 with BM stromal cells induces hyperphosphorylation of Rb. In contrast, the pre-B ALL cell line BLIN-1, which has a bi-allelic deletion of p16INK4ap19ARF but does not require BM stromal cells for growth, does not undergo Rb phosphorylation after BM stromal cell contact. The BLIN-2 cell line will facilitate identification of ligand/receptor interactions at the B-cell precursor/BM stromal cell interface and may provide new insight into microenvironmental regulation of leukemic cell survival and growth.


1990 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 431-442 ◽  
Author(s):  
C A Felix ◽  
D G Poplack ◽  
G H Reaman ◽  
S M Steinberg ◽  
D E Cole ◽  
...  

Immunoglobulin (Ig) and T-cell receptor (TCR) genes were examined in the lymphoblasts of 70 children with immunophenotypically defined B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The most frequent genes to rearrange were Ig heavy (H) chain (93%) and TCR delta (79%), followed by TCR gamma (49%), Ig kappa and/or lambda light (L) chain (46%), TCR alpha (46%), and TCR beta (29%). Thus, despite their putative "B-cell precursor" lineage, these leukemias manifest a remarkably high incidence of TCR gene rearrangements. While certain patterns predominate, there is considerable heterogeneity in Ig and TCR genotypes in this disease. No significant associations were found between Ig and TCR genotype and commonly used prognostic factors including age, sex, race, WBC, French-American-British (FAB) subtype, or cytogenetics. However, the lymphoblasts of three of six patients who failed to achieve initial remission had germline patterns of every Ig and TCR gene, a genotype not observed in the leukemic cells from any of the 64 patients who achieved complete remission (p2 = .0007). This study suggests that particular Ig and TCR genotypes may be of clinical relevance in childhood B-cell precursor ALL. The finding of rearranged TCR genes in a large proportion of cases raises fundamental questions about early lineage commitment and lymphocyte differentiation along B-cell and T-cell pathways.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weijing Li ◽  
Shuguang Liu ◽  
Chanjuan Wang ◽  
Lei Cui ◽  
Xiaoxi Zhao ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Little is known about DNMT3A expression and its prognostic significance in childhood B cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL). MethodsWe determined DNMT3A mRNA expression in 102 children with BCP-ALL. Correlations with relapse-free survival (RFS) and common clinical characteristics were analyzed. DNMT3A was stably knocked out by CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technology in 697 cell line. Cell proliferation activity after treated with daunorubicin was determined by CCK8 assay in DNMT3A KO 697 cell line.Results DNMT3A expression in BCP-ALL patients who were in CCR was higher than in those who got relapse (P=0.0111). Receiver operating characteristic curve showed prognostic significance of DNMT3A expression (P=0.003). Low expression of DNMT3A (<0.197) was significantly correlated with poor RFS (P<0.001) in children with BCP-ALL. Knock-out of DNMT3A in 697 cell line significantly increased IC50 of daunorubicin (P=0.0057), indicating elevated resistance to daunorubicin. ConclusionsLow expression of DNMT3A associates with poor prognosis in children with BCP-ALL. Knock-out of DNMT3A confers resistance to daunorubicin on leukemic cells.


Blood ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 112 (10) ◽  
pp. 3982-3988 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael N. Dworzak ◽  
Angela Schumich ◽  
Dieter Printz ◽  
Ulrike Pötschger ◽  
Zvenyslava Husak ◽  
...  

Abstract CD20 is expressed in approximately one- half of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) cases with B-cell precursor (BCP) origin. We observed that it is occasionally up-regulated during treatment. To understand the impact of this on the potential effectiveness of anti-CD20 immunotherapy, we studied 237 CD10+ pediatric BCP-ALL patients with Berlin-Frankfurt-Munster (BFM)–type therapy. We analyzed CD20 expression changes from diagnosis to end-induction, focusing on sample pairs with more than or equal to 0.1% residual leukemic blasts, and assessed complement-induced cytotoxicity by CD20-targeting with rituximab in vitro. CD20-positivity significantly increased from 45% in initial samples to 81% at end-induction (day 15, 71%). The levels of expression also increased; 52% of cases at end-induction had at least 90% CD20pos leukemic cells, as opposed to 5% at diagnosis (day 15, 20%). CD20 up-regulation was frequent in high-risk patients, patients with high minimal residual disease at end-induction, and patients who suffered later from relapse, but not in TEL/AML1 cases. Notably, up-regulation occurred in viable cells sustaining chemotherapy. In vitro, CD20 up-regulation significantly enhanced rituximab cytotoxicity and could be elicited on prednisolone incubation. In conclusion, CD20 up-regulation is frequently induced in BCP-ALL during induction, and this translates into an acquired state of higher sensitivity to rituximab. This study was registered at http://www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT00430118.


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