C-kit receptor expression in acute leukemias-association with patient and disease characteristics and with outcome

We hypothesize that c-kit expression may be associated with disease-specific features and have prognostic value in acute leukemias. In acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), higher levels of c-kit expression predicted lower complete response (CR) rates, suggesting that these patients may benefit from acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) therapy. Despite a negative association with the Philadelphia-chromosome, there was no correlation with disease-free survival (DFS) in CR. In AML, c-kit was associated with older age and cytogenetic abnormality t(-5, -7). Consequently higher levels of c-kit predicted lower CR rates. However, after accounting for these covariates, multivariate analysis indicates that higher c-kit expression predicts higher CR rates, although there was no effect on DFS in CR.