Impact of CD123 expression, analyzed by immunohistochemistry, on clinical outcomes in patients with acute myeloid leukemia

Aberrant expression of the interleukin-3 receptor alpha chain (IL3RA or CD123) is frequently observed in patients with a subset of leukemic disorders, including acute myeloid leukemia (AML), particularly in leukemia stem cells. We analyzed the relationships between immunohistochemical (IHC) expression, including that of CD123, and clinical outcomes. This study involved a retrospective analysis of 48 patients diagnosed with de novo AML (M0–M5, n = 48) at our hospital between February 2008 and September 2015. Among patients with de novo AML, CD123 expression was associated with a failure to achieve complete response (CR) to initial induction chemotherapy (P = 0.044) and poor overall survival (OS) (P = 0.036). This is the first study using IHC to demonstrate that CD123 expression is associated with a poor CR rate and poor OS in de novo AML patients. These results support previous reports using flow cytometry (FCM). CD123 expression may thus be useful for assessing AML patients’ prognoses. At the time of diagnosis, CD123 expression analysis using IHC may represent a clinically useful assessment for de novo AML patients.