Expression of adhesion molecules in childhood B-lineage-cell neoplasms.

We analyzed the expression pattern of adhesion molecules including beta 1-integrins (CD49c, CD49d, CD49e, CD49f), beta 2-integrins (CD11a, CD11b, CD11c), CD44, and CD54 in 141 children with B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (pre-B ALL) and in 21 children with B-cell ALL/non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (B-ALL/NHL). The frequencies of CD11a, CD49f, and CD44 expression were significantly higher in CD34+ pre-B ALL than in CD34- pre-B ALL. Although CD49d, CD49e, and CD44 were less frequently expressed in B-ALL/NHL than in pre-B ALL, the expression of CD11a and CD54 were more frequent in B-ALL/NHL. In pre-B ALL, expression of CD11a positively correlated with that of CD11b (P < .05) and CD54 (P < .01), and CD49c positively correlated with CD49f (P < .01). Of the clinical parameters of patients with pre-B ALL, expression of CD11a was associated with a low leukocyte count (P < .05). The presence of CD54 on the cell surface was an independent factor indicating a poor prognosis. The estimated 5-year event-free survival was 42.3% for CD54+ (n = 31) compared with 70.3% for CD54- patients (n = 38) (P < .05). These findings demonstrated that expression of adhesion molecules is dependent on the phenotype of B-lineage cells and that the expression of some of these molecules has clinical significance.