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Flow cytometric quantification and immunophenotyping of leukemic stem cells in acute myeloid leukemia

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Abstract

Leukemic stem cells (LSCs) are root of clonal growth in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and responsible for the propagation of leukemic blasts (LBs). LSCs are considered as CD34 + CD38− population among LBs and often express as CD123, CD44, or CD184, which are rarely expressed on normal hematopoietic stem cells and could be the potential therapeutic targets. Using multi-color flow cytometry, we analyzed the proportions of CD34 + CD38− LSCs and expression of CD123, CD44, and CD184 on LSCs in 63 patients with AML. The median proportion of LSCs was 1.3 % (0.0–33.1 %) at the time of diagnosis. Of all patients, 74.6 % of them had CD123-positive LSCs, all patients had CD44-positive LSCs, and 85.7 % had CD184-positive LSCs, respectively. The proportions of LSCs were significantly lower in the complete remission (CR) group compared with non-CR group (P = 0.006). The lower proportions of LSCs in CR group indicated that measurement of the proportion of LSCs might be helpful to predict the prognosis of AML.

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All authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of Ulsan College of Medicine and Asan Medical Center, 388-1 Pungnap-2dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul, 138-736, South Korea

    Keumrock Hwang, Chan-Jeoung Park, Seongsoo Jang & Hyun-Sook Chi

  2. Department of Internal Medicine, University of Ulsan College of Medicine and Asan Medical Center, Seoul, South Korea

    Dae-Young Kim, Jung-Hee Lee, Je Hwan Lee & Kyoo Hyung Lee

  3. Department of Pediatrics, University of Ulsan College of Medicine and Asan Medical Center, Seoul, South Korea

    Ho-Joon Im & Jong-Jin Seo

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  1. Keumrock Hwang
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  2. Chan-Jeoung Park
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  3. Seongsoo Jang
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  4. Hyun-Sook Chi
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  5. Dae-Young Kim
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  6. Jung-Hee Lee
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  7. Je Hwan Lee
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  8. Kyoo Hyung Lee
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  9. Ho-Joon Im
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  10. Jong-Jin Seo
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Correspondence to Chan-Jeoung Park or Seongsoo Jang.

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Hwang, K., Park, CJ., Jang, S. et al. Flow cytometric quantification and immunophenotyping of leukemic stem cells in acute myeloid leukemia. Ann Hematol 91, 1541–1546 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00277-012-1501-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00277-012-1501-7

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