Background. Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is characterized by clonal expansion of undifferentiated myeloid precursors, resulting in impaired hematopoiesis and bone marrow failure. Identification of new prognostic markers remains important; especially those refining therapeutic options. The aim of this study was to evaluate the value of Tetraspanin CD81 as a prognostic marker in patients with de novo AML.
Methods. Thirty patients with newly diagnosed AML were included in this study, and were subjected to immunophenotyping by flow cytometry. The patients were followed up for one year to evaluate overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS).
Results. CD81 was expressed in the thirteen patients with a mean percentage 31.15 ± 12.14 %. However, 17 AML patients were CD81- expression with mean percentage 9.06 ± 3.78 %. After induction therapy, complete remission achieved in 15 patients (50%). On the other hand, 13 patients (43.3%) did not achieve complete remission, and the remaining 2 patients were not evaluated. OS in AML patients ranged from (8- 12 months) with median 11.57 was 71.4%. DFS in AML patients with median 11 months was 53.6%. There was a highly statistically significant difference between studied groups, where OS and DFS were lower in patients with CD81+ expression compared tothose with CD81- expression (P= 0.00).
Conclusion. CD81+ expression has a potential role as a prognostic marker; where its expression is associated with M4 and M5 FAB subtypes. Moreover, patients with CD81+ expression have higher incidence of relapse and decreased OS & DFS than patients with CD81- expression.