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Acute Leukemias

Occurrence of thrombotic events in acute promyelocytic leukemia correlates with consistent immunophenotypic and molecular features

Leukemia volume 21, pages 79–83 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

Although the occurrence of thrombosis in acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) has been reported during retinoic acid treatment, no studies carried out in large clinical cohorts have specifically addressed this issue. We analyzed 124 APL patients treated with the all-trans retinoic acid and idarubicin protocol and compared clinico-biologic characteristics of 11 patients who developed thrombosis with those of 113 patients who had no thrombosis. In seven patients, the events were recorded during induction, whereas in four patients deep vein thrombosis occurred in the post-induction phase. Comparison of clinico-biological characteristics of patients with and without thrombosis revealed in the former group higher median white blood cell (WBC) count (17 × 109/l, range 1.2–56, P=0.002), prevalence of the bcr3 transcript type (72 vs 48%, P=0.01), of FLT3-ITD (64 vs 28%, P=0.02), CD2 (P=0.0001) and CD15 (P=0.01) expression. No correlation was found with sex, age, French-American-British subtype, all-trans-retinoic acid syndrome or with thrombophilic state that was investigated in 5/11 patients. Our findings suggest that, in APL patients consistent biologic features of leukemia cells may predict increased risk of developing thrombosis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cellular Biotechnology and Hematology, University La Sapienza, Rome, Italy

    M Breccia, R Latagliata, I Carmosino, A Guarini, M S De Propris, F Gentilini, G Cimino & F Mandelli

  2. Medical Oncology and Haematology, Campus Bio-Medico University, Rome, Italy

    G Avvisati

  3. Department of Hematology, Regina Elena Institute, Rome, Italy

    M C Petti

  4. Department of Biopathology, University of Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy

    F Lo-Coco

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  1. M Breccia
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  2. G Avvisati
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Correspondence to M Breccia.

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Breccia, M., Avvisati, G., Latagliata, R. et al. Occurrence of thrombotic events in acute promyelocytic leukemia correlates with consistent immunophenotypic and molecular features. Leukemia 21, 79–83 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.leu.2404377

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