Expression of CD25 is a specific and relatively sensitive marker for the Philadelphia chromosome (BCR-ABL1) translocation in pediatric B acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Amos S. Gaikwad, Rachel E. Donohue, M. Tarek Elghetany, Andrea M. Sheehan, Xinyan Y. Lu, Maria M. Gramatges, Kenneth L. McClain, Toni Ann Mistretta, Jyotinder N. Punia, Timothy J. Moore, Tatiana Goltsova, Michael Cubbage, Choladda V. Curry*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background: Precursor B acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) is the most common cancer in children and overall, has an excellent prognosis. However, the Philadelphia chromosome translocation (Ph+), t(9;22)(q34;q11), is present in a small subset of patients and confers poor outcomes. CD25 (IL-2 receptor alpha chain) expression has been associated with Ph+ B-ALL in adults, but no similar study has been performed in pediatric B-ALL. Methods: A retrospective analysis of 221 consecutive pediatric patients with a diagnosis of B-ALL (blood and/or bone marrow) from 2009 to 2012 was performed to determine an association between Ph+ B-ALL and CD25 expression. A threshold of 25% was used to define positive cases for CD25 expression by flow cytometry. Results: There were 221 patients with a diagnosis of B-ALL ranging from 2 to 22 years (median, 6 years). Eight (3.6%) B-ALL patients were positive for the Philadelphia chromosome translocation (Ph+ B-ALL) and 213 were negative (Ph-negative B-ALL). CD25 expression was observed in 6 of 8 (75%) Ph+ B-ALL patients and 6 of 213 (2.8%) Ph-negative B-ALL patients. CD25 expression was significantly higher in Ph+ B-ALL compared to Ph-negative B-ALL, with median CD25 expression of 64% (range 0-93%) and 0.1% (range 0-91%), respectively (P = 0.0002). Therefore, CD25 expression as a predictor of Ph+ B-ALL had 75% sensitivity, 97% specificity, 50% positive predictive value and 99% negative predictive value. Conclusions: CD25 expression is a specific and relatively sensitive marker for the identification of Ph+ B-ALL in the pediatric population.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)6225-6230
Number of pages6
JournalInternational Journal of Clinical and Experimental Pathology
Volume7
Issue number9
StatePublished - 2014

Keywords

  • B acute lymphoblastic leukemia
  • B-ALL
  • BCR-ABL
  • CD25
  • Flow cytometry
  • Pediatric
  • Ph+
  • Ph+ B-ALL
  • Philadelphia chromosome
  • t(9;22)

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Pathology and Forensic Medicine
  • Histology

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