TY  - JOUR
A1  - Ballo, Olivier Karl Friedrich
A1  - Stratmann, Jan
A1  - Serve, Hubert
A1  - Steffen, Björn
A1  - Finkelmeier, Fabian
A1  - Brandts, Christian Hubertus
T1  - Blast vacuolization in AML patients indicates adverse-risk AML and is associated with impaired survival after intensive induction chemotherapy
T2  - PLoS one
N2  - Introduction: Vacuolization is a frequently found morphological feature in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) blasts. Subcellular origin and biological function as well as prognostic impact are currently unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether vacuolization correlates with clinically relevant AML features.
Materials & methods: Bone marrow smears of patients diagnosed with AML at the University Hospital Frankfurt between January 2011 and August 2013 were analyzed for blast vacuolization and correlated with clinically relevant AML features. Patients undergoing standard induction chemotherapy were further analyzed for molecular and cytogenetic features as well as treatment response and survival.
Results: 14 of 100 patients diagnosed with AML receiving standard induction chemotherapy had evidence of blast vacuolization. Positivity for vacuolization correlated with a CD15 positive immunophenotype and with a higher incidence of high-risk AML according to the European LeukemiaNet risk stratification. AML patients with blast vacuolization had a poor blast clearance after standard induction chemotherapy and poor survival.
Discussion: In conclusion, our findings demonstrate that vacuolization can easily be determined in myeloid leukemia blasts and may be a useful biomarker to predict AML risk groups as well as early treatment response rates and survival.
KW  - Acute myeloid leukemia
KW  - Bone marrow
KW  - Chemotherapy
KW  - Vacuoles
KW  - Deletion mutation
KW  - Karyotypes
KW  - Cancer chemotherapy
KW  - Cytogenetics
Y1  - 2019
UR  - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/51283
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-512837
SN  - 1932-6203
N1  - Copyright: © 2019 Ballo et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
VL  - 14
IS  - (9): e0223013
SP  - 1
EP  - 12
PB  - PLoS
CY  - Lawrence, Kan.
ER  -