American journal of hematology
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The hemopoietic stem cell marker CD34 has been reported to be a useful predictor of treatment outcome in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Previous data suggested that CD34 expression may be associated with other poor prognosis factors in AML such as undifferentiated leukemia, secondary AML (SAML), and clonal abnormalities involving chromosome 5 and 7. In order to analyze the correlations between the clinicopathologic features, cytogenetic and CD34 expression in AML, we retrospectively investigated 99 patients with newly diagnosed AML: 85 with de novo disease and 14 with secondary AML (SAML). ⋯ We did not find any association between CD34 expression and attainment of complete remission, overall survival, or disease-free survival. In conclusion, the variations of CD34 expression in AML are correlated with cytogenetic abnormalities associated both with poor and favorable outcome. The evaluation of the correlations between CD34 antigen and clinical outcome in AML should take into account the results of pretreatment karyotype.