Clinical Significance of CD11a Expression in Acute Leukemia

Objective To investigate the expression of adhesion molecule CD11a on acute leukemia and its clinical implications. Methods CD11a of 27 acute lymphocytic leukemia(ALL) and 30 acute non lymphocytic leukemia(ANLL)were measured by flow cytometric analysis. Results (1)CD11a expressions were lower on ALL or ANLL cells than that on the normal hematopoietic cells(P0.01). (2)The expressions of CD11a correlated with leukemia cell subtypes, CD11a expressions were lower on B-ALL than on T-ALL(P0.01), and lower on M 1～M 3 than on M 4,M 5(P0.01). (3)Higher CD11a expression significantly paralleled with extramedullary invasion, CD11a expression in the invasive group was much higher than that in the non-invasive group(P0.01), while the percentage of invasion in CD11a + group was much higher than in CDlla - group. (4)CD11a expression had no influence on therapeutic effects on ALL or AML. Conclusion The expression of CD11a is abnormal in acute leukemia, which relates with some clinical features, and may help to identify leukemia cell subtypes.