[Clinicopathological features in HLA-DR-negative acute myeloid leukemia]

From a series of 176 patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), we have identified 11 patients with HLA-DR-negative AML excluding acute promyelocytic leukemia. All patients showed not (15; 17) or consistent chromosomal abnormalities. According to the French-British-American criteria, seven, three, and one patients were classified into M1, M2, and M4, respectively. Blasts from these patients were CD33+, HLA-DR-, and lymphoid-antigen-. All patients entered complete remission after induction therapy. Of these, blasts from four patients had strikingly invaginated nuclear membrane and finely granular peroxidase activity. The phenotype of the blasts was CD33+, CD34-, CD2-, and HLA-DR-. All four patients showed hyperleukocytosis on initial presentation. One patient received all-trans retinoic acid at relapse, however, the drug did not induce the differentiation of the blasts. These four patients were suspected to have acute myeloid/natural killer (NK) leukemia because of the prominent morphological feature of the blasts and the initial hyperleukocytosis, although NK cell activity of the blasts was not examined. Since HLA-DR-negative AML is heterogeneous, it is necessary for identifying acute myeloid/ NK leukemia within the disorder.