Cluster of Differentiation 96 in Children with Acute Leukemia: A Single Center Cohort Study

Cluster of differentiation 96 (CD96) is an important leukemic stem cells (LSCs) surface marker. We evaluated CD96 expression in children with acute leukemia (AL) and described its relation with treatment response. We conducted a prospective cohort study in Mansoura University Children's Hospital, Egypt during the period from 2014 to 2016. We studied 96 children with AL and 96 controls at clinical, laboratory and radiological levels. We assessed CD96% in LSCs using flow cytometry. AL group included 59 acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and 37 acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients. ALL subgroup involved 44 B-ALL and 15 T-ALL patients while AML subgroup included 17 M2, 12 M4 and 8 M5 patients. CD96% was higher in AL group [57.63 (21.18-89.93)] than control [34.12 (16.15-39.51)] (P < 0.001). CD96% was higher in AML [68.25 (31.1-89.86)] than ALL [54.18 (21.18-89.93] (P < 0.001). CD96% in AML was M4 > M2 > M5 (P = 0.04) while within ALL subgroup, no significant difference was found between B-ALL and T-ALL (P = 0.807). CD96% in patients with non-complete remission was higher than those with complete remission (P = 0.004). CD96 is a reliable diagnostic marker for AL mainly AML and could be used as a prognostic marker for treatment response.