CD38+ CD58- is an independent adverse prognostic factor in paediatric Philadelphia chromosome negative B cell acute...

To explore new risk predictors for a high risk of relapse in Philadelphia chromosome negative (Ph-) B cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (B-ALL) patients, 196 paediatric Ph- B-ALL patients (≤ 18 years) were retrospectively analysed. We mainly focus on investigating the prognostic value of CD38 and CD58 expression in leukemic blasts in these patients by four colour flow cytometry. The CD38+ CD58- group (n=16) had a higher relapse rate, a shorter 3-year event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS) than the CD38+ CD58+ group (n=157; 31.3% vs 10.2%, P=0.04; 52.4% vs 92.3%, P<0.01; 32.5% vs 91.0%, P=0.01); CD38+ CD58- was an independent adverse prognostic predictor for relapse (hazard ratio [HR], 0.203; 95%CI, 0.063-0.656; P=0.01), 3-year EFS (HR, 0.091; 95%CI, 0.023-0.355; P<0.01) and OS (HR, 0.102; 95%CI, 0.026-0.3971; P<0.01) in this cohort, as determined by Cox multivariate analysis. We identified, for the first time, a higher risk population of paediatric Ph- B-ALL patients with CD38+ CD58- who had a higher relapse risk and a shorter survival. Our results may allow better risk stratification and individualized treatment.