CD36 (thrombospondin receptor) expression in childhood acute megakaryoblastic leukemia: in vitro drug sensitivity and outcome
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Updated: Jul 19, 2026
Modeling Chemotherapy Resistant Leukemia In Vitro
Published on: February 9, 2016
Süreyya Savaşan1, Steven Buck, Susana C Raimondi
1Children's Hospital of Michigan, Division of Hematology/Oncology, Carman Ann Adams Department of Pediatrics, Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48201, USA. ssavasan@med.wayne.edu
Abstract:
The outcome for children with acute megakaryoblastic leukemia (AMKL) remains poor, except for cases associated with Down syndrome (DS). This study compared immunophenotypic and drug sensitivity patterns of childhood AMKL cases with or without DS. All DS-AMKL cases showed high expression of CD36 and were very sensitive to cytarabine and daunorubicin in vitro. In children without DS, high expression of CD36 on AMKL blasts identified a sub-group with immunophenotypic and drug sensitivity patterns similar to that of DS AMKL. Among non-DS AMKL patients, CD36-high cases had a superior outcome compared with CD36-negative cases. CD36 expression in acute myeloid leukemia cases other than AMKL was not associated with increased in vitro drug sensitivity. CD36 expression in AMKL may be an indicator of megakaryoblast maturation and chemotherapy sensitivity.
