MicroRNA profiling can classify acute leukemias of ambiguous lineage as either acute myeloid leukemia or acute lymphoid leukemia
Menée sur 17 cas de leucémie aiguë de lignée ambiguë et 16 cas de leucémie aiguë myéloïde ou lymphoïde, cette étude montre qu'une signature basée sur l'expression de micro-ARNs permet de déterminer si une leucémie aiguë de lignée ambiguë est de type myéloïde ou lymphoïde
Purpose: Classification of acute leukemia (AL) is based on commitment of leukemic cells to the myeloid or the lymphoid lineage. However, a small percentage of AL cases lack straightforward immunophenotypical lineage commitment. These leukemias of ambiguous lineage represent a heterogeneous category of AL that cannot be classified as either myeloid AL (AML) or lymphoid AL (ALL). The lack of clear classification of acute leukemias of ambiguous lineage as either AML or ALL is a hurdle in treatment choice for these patients.
Experimental design: here, we compared the microRNA expression profiles of 17 cases with AL of ambiguous lineage and 16 cases of AML, B-ALL and T-ALL
Results: We show that leukemias of ambiguous lineage do not segregate as a separate entity but exhibit microRNA expression profiles similar to either AML, B-ALL or T-ALL. We show that by using only five of the most lineage discriminative microRNAs we are able to define AL of ambiguous lineage as either AML or ALL.
Conclusions: Our results indicate the presence of a myeloid or lymphoid lineage specific genotype, as reflected by microRNA expression, in these AL despite their ambiguous immunophenotype. MicroRNA-based classification of AL of ambiguous lineage might be of additional value in therapeutic decision making.
Clinical Cancer Research , résumé, 2013