Substance P--a potent risk factor in childhood lymphoblastic leukaemia

The study focused on determining the expression of substance P (SP) in neoplastic bone marrow cells in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) in terms of its mRNA and the level of protein production. An attempt has also been made to demonstrate a correlation of SP with leukaemia risk factors and treatment failure. The study group comprised 120 children treated for ALL. Expression of SP was examined by in situ hybridisation with a 5'-biotinylated probe and by immunocytochemistry with specific anti-human SP antibody. Out of 80 patients with common ALL, the expression of SP was demonstrated in 33 cases (41.2%). In the group of 24 children with pre-B ALL, the presence of SP was noted in six cases (25.0%). Of 16 patients with T-cell leukaemia, SP expression was demonstrated in 13 cases (81.2%). The percentage of immunopositive cells in the SP-positive cases ranged from 79.8 to 97.3. Treatment failure in the children with ALL was closely related to the expression of SP observed at the beginning of treatment. The results showed a connection between the presence of SP-positive blasts and leukaemia relapse. This may indicate that SP expression, involved in the proliferation of the tumour cells, may represent a novel risk factor in ALL.