CD36 (thrombospondin receptor) expression in childhood acute megakaryoblastic leukemia: in vitro drug sensitivity and outcome.

The outcome for children with acute megakaryoblastic leukemia (AMKL) remains poor, except for cases associated with Down syndrome (DS). This study compared immunophenotypic and drug sensitivity patterns of childhood AMKL cases with or without DS. All DS-AMKL cases showed high expression of CD36 and were very sensitive to cytarabine and daunorubicin in vitro. In children without DS, high expression of CD36 on AMKL blasts identified a sub-group with immunophenotypic and drug sensitivity patterns similar to that of DS AMKL. Among non-DS AMKL patients, CD36-high cases had a superior outcome compared with CD36-negative cases. CD36 expression in acute myeloid leukemia cases other than AMKL was not associated with increased in vitro drug sensitivity. CD36 expression in AMKL may be an indicator of megakaryoblast maturation and chemotherapy sensitivity.