Research in Medicine

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Background: Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia, APL, belongs to the group of acute myeloid leukemias. It is distinguished from other types of leukemia by distinct cell morphology, immuno-phenotyping characteristics, coagulopathy and different treatment modalities. The aim of this study was evaluation of the effects of cytologic, clinical and biologic factors specially CD34 expression in determining prognosis in patients with APL. Materials and methods: In a descriptive retrospective analysis files of 60 patients with APL were reviewed and data statistically analyzed using SPSS soft ware with Chi Square and T- test. Results: Complete remission and disease free survival (DFS) had no significant correlation with age, sex, WBC, Hemoglobin level, platelet count, purpura, CD34 status, and percentage of blasts in the bone marrow. There was no statistically significant correlation between CD34 expression with morphology, age, sex, WBC, platelet count, percentage of BM blasts and purpura. Cases with CD34 expression had severe anemia, (Hemoglobin=5.8±1.08), in comparison with patients with CD34 negative APL, (p=0.02). Conclusion: Results of our study were not concordant with the literature, as recognized prognostic factors had no significant effect on the prognosis of our patients therefore it is logical to believe that factors influencing the prognosis of APL in Iranian patients may be different. Failure in obtaining complete remission in all 4 patients with CD34+ APL indicates that presence of CD34+ may have been the cause of poor prognosis in these patients. Further studies are necessary to confirm this observation.

Keywords: Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia, CD34, Complete remission, Disease free survival.

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