Glucocorticoid receptors in the lymphoblasts of patients with glucocorticoid-resistant childhood acute lymphocytic leukemia.

Glucocorticoid receptor sites were measured in lymphoblasts of six patients with childhood acute lymphocytic leukemia in relapse who were resistant to glucocorticoid therapy and compared to the number of receptor sites found in the lymphoblasts of 12 patients with acute lymphocytic leukemia who achieved initial complete remissions on glucocorticoid-containing chemotherapy regimens. Resistant patients as a group were found to have lower receptor site levels. This data supports the hypothesis that reduction in the number of receptor sites per cell is one mechanism by which cells become resistant to glucocorticoids. However, the clinical usefulness of these measurements to prospectively select glucocorticoid-resistant patients appears limited because four of the six resistant patients had measurements within one standard deviation of the mean for the 12 patients who achieved remission.