Clinical significance of LEA-1 expression in adult acute myeloid leukemia

In this study, we examined expressions of several adhesion molecules (AdMs), i.e. leukocyte function antigen-1 (LFA-1: CD11a/CD18), Hermes homing receptor (CD44) and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1: CD54), on leukemia cells from 51 adult patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemias (AMLs) to elucidate clinical significance of these AdM expressions. Those expressions in lymphoid malignancies have been correlated with tumor evolutions, but CD44 was detected in all the AML cases examined and CD54 expression did not associate with their clinical characteristics or outcomes. However, we found that LFA-1 expressions significantly correlated with splenomegaly, resistance to induction chemotherapies and short survival periods in AML patients.