The prognostic significance of caspase 8 associated protein 2 (CASP8AP2) in pediatric ALL is controversial. We determined a cut-off of CASP8AP2 expression in bone marrow samples of 39 newly diagnosed patients, and found a significantly poor bone marrow relapse-free survival (p = 0.019) in low-expression group and verified it in another cohort of 106 patients (p = 0.002). Furthermore, as an independent prognostic factor, CASP8AP2 expression was correlated to minimal residual disease (MRD), and incorporating it with MRD would help to identify patients at greater risk of bone marrow relapse. We also developed an algorithm comprised of clinical risk and CASP8AP2 expression, which could predict bone marrow relapse more accurately. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
基金:
Beijing Municipal Science & Technology ProjectBeijing Municipal Science & Technology Commission [D0905001040431]; National Key Technologies Research & Development Program of the 11th 5-Year Plan [2007BAI04B03]; Beijing Novel ProgramBeijing Municipal Science & Technology Commission [2005B06]; Beijing Natural Science FoundationBeijing Natural Science Foundation [7112051]