Serum Beta2-Microglobulin in Acute and Chronic Leukaemia

Abstract

The serum concentration of .beta.2-microglobulin (.beta.2-m) was measured in 69 patients with acute or chronic lympho- and myeloproliferative disorders. Serum .beta.2-m was significantly increased in 12 of 14 patients with chronic lymphatic leukemia. The serum concentration was proportional to the estimated lymphatic infiltration of tissues but inversely related to the number of circulating lymphocytes. Cytostatic treatment was followed by a decrease in serum .beta.2-m, but normalization of the serum concentration was not observed. Patients (11) with chronic granulocytic leukemia had significantly elevated serum concentrations of .beta.2-m, and increased serum concentrations were found in patients with acute leukemias. Thus, 12 of 25 patients with acute myeloid leukemia, all of 5 patients with acute myelomonocytic leukemia and 4 of 5 patients with acute lymphatic leukemia had increased serum .beta.2-m levels. In acute leukemia no correlation could be demonstrated between the blood lymphocyte concentration and serum .beta.2-m. No significant changes in serum .beta.2-m were found in remission or relapse of the acute leukemia. Serum .beta.2-m in patients with chronic leukemia may reflect the total amount of turn-over of leukemic cells in the body and repeated determinations of serum .beta.2-m in these patients may be useful as an estimate of the residual leukemic cell mass after therapy. Apart from this the determination of serum .beta.2-m seems to be of little, if any, clinical use in leukemia.