11q23/MLL rearrangement confers a poor prognosis in infants with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Abstract

PURPOSELeukemic cell characteristics were analyzed in infants less than 1 year of age with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) to determine adverse prognostic factors that might explain the poor prognosis of this group.PATIENTS AND METHODSTreatment outcomes were analyzed according to the presenting clinical and laboratory features of 30 infants treated between May 1979 and April 1993. A stepwise multivariate regression model was used to identify the most important prognostic indicator with respect to event-free survival.RESULTSInfant ALL cases were characterized by high presenting leukocyte count (median, 87 x 10(9)/L), increased frequency of CNS leukemia (50%), and blast cells with a CD10- phenotype (67%), myeloid-associated antigen expression (48%), and 11q23/MLL rearrangement (68%). The 11q23/MLL involvement was correlated with age less than 6 months, CD10- phenotype, myeloid-associated antigen expression, and high leukocyte count. Although 11q23/MLL involvement, age less than 6 months, myeloid-associat...