Assessment of the impact of immunophenotyping patterns in acute B-cell lymphoblastic leukemia on disease outcome: a retrospective study in South Egypt Cancer Institute (10 years’ experience)

Abstract

Background
B-acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) is a clonal expansion of hematopoietic blasts, originating from immature B-cell precursors. It typically affects children under the age of 6 years, but it is also encountered in adult populations


Patients and methods
The objective of this study is to review medical records of patients diagnosed with B-ALL in South Egypt Cancer Institute over a period of 10 years from the January 1, 2010 to the end of January 2020. We aim to study the immunophenotypic patterns of B-ALL and its correlation with disease outcome in all age groups.


Results
B-ALL is common in pediatric patients with male predominance. There was no statistical difference between pediatric and adult B-ALL patients regarding the immunophenotyping expression. Aberrant myeloid and T cell marker expression was statistically significant in adult B-ALL patients compared with pediatric patients. Survival is better in pediatric B-ALL patients than in adult patients.


Conclusion
Age is an important factor in the prognosis of B ALL; disease outcome is better in the pediatric age group than in the adult (higher complete remission rate, lower relapse rate, higher overall survival, and event-free survival) age group.