Immunologic Classification of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in Korean

Abstract

Recent advance in immunology has led to important insight into lymphocyte differentiation and the cellular origin of acute lymphoblastic leukemia(ALl). Leukemic cells from 68 children and 60 adults with ALL were analyzed utilizing highly specific monoclonal antibodies, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase and more traditional lymphocyte markers such as sheep erythrocyte receptor and surface membrane immunoglobulin. Monoclonal antibodies used were J5 detecting common ALL antigen (CALLA), OKT10, OKM1 and OKla 1 detecting HLA-DR. Four major subgroups of ALL were identified: in childhood ALL, common ALL (58.8%), null ALL (20.6%), T-ALL (19.1%) and B-ALL (1.5%) and in adult ALL, common ALL (60.0%), null ALL (25.0%), T-ALL (13.3%) and B-ALL 0.7%). The frequencies of expression of the markers within each of the four major subgroups were also evaluated. In T-ALL, 18% of childhood and 25% of adult cases expressed CALLA.