Low-Intensity CD66c Expression Orchestrates an Immunosuppressive Niche Promoting Residual Disease in Pediatric ProB...

Background/Objectives: B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL), the most common pediatric acute leukemia (AL), is frequently characterized by aberrant antigen expression, which aids diagnosis and prognosis. The myeloid antigen CD66c is notably frequent in B-ALL and has been proposed as a marker of disease aggressiveness and treatment response. Evaluating CD66c in Mexican pediatric patients may provide insights into disease biology. Methods: A cohort of 128 pediatric patients was referred to the Laboratory of Oncoimmunology and Cytomics of Childhood Cancer (OCL) at Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS) for immunophenotyping tests between March 2022 and November 2023. Additionally, control bone marrow (BM) samples were assessed. Aberrant antigen expression in hematopoietic populations and BM microenvironment stroma phenotyping were performed. Results: In total, 84.38% of B-ALL patients exhibited aberrant expression of ≥1 myeloid antigen. Among CD66c-positive patients, 13.79% had detectable measurable residual disease (MRD) during follow-up and 20.69% died. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) from patients with positive or low CD66c expression displayed inflammatory profiles. ProB leukemias with low CD66c expression were more likely to exhibit detectable MRD, increased mortality, and reduced survival. Conclusions: Low CD66c expression induces molecular stealth that could favor immune evasion and niche persistence, thereby increasing the risk of relapse and therapeutic failure.