Shifts in blast cell phenotype and karyotype at relapse of childhood lymphoblastic leukemia

Analyses of bone marrow blast cells collected at diagnosis and relapse from 68 children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) demonstrated changes in the expression of cell markers in one-fourth of the patients. Loss of the common ALL antigen (CALLA) was a frequent change, occurring in 8 of the 51 cases initially classified as common or pre-B ALL. The HLA-DR antigen was either acquired or lost in 5 of the 68 cases, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase was lost in 6 of 25 cases, and reactivity of the T10 antigen with monoclonal antibodies was increased in 6 of 17 cases of non-T cell ALL. Conversion to acute nonlymphoblastic leukemia, so-called lineage switch, was noted in two cases of common ALL and one of pre-B ALL, coinciding with the loss of CALLA. Results of chromosomal analyses in cases with a loss of CALLA implicated several mechanisms in the observed phenotypic changes. In six cases, including each instance of lineage switch, the original karyotype had been replaced by an entirely different abnormal karyotype, suggesting clonal selection or induction of a second malignancy. In another case, the evidence suggested clonal evolution. Our findings demonstrate that sequential phenotypic and cytogenetic studies may yield valuable insights into the mechanisms of leukemic recurrence and may have implications for treatment selection.