Drug responsiveness of leukemic cells detected in vitro at diagnosis correlates with therapy response and survival in patients with acute myeloid leukemia.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is the most common acute leukemia in adults, and chemotherapy remains the most commonly used treatment approach for this group of hematological disorders. Drug resistance is one of the predictors of unfavorable prognosis for leukemia patients.

AIM:

The purpose of this study was to perform a retrospective analysis of the survival rate in AML patients according to age, tumor status, and chemotherapy regimen received and to analyze the therapy response of AML patients depending on the treatment received, initial responsiveness of tumor cells to chemotherapeutic drugs measured in vitro at diagnosis and expression of immunological markers.

METHODS:

The survival of AML patients (n = 127) was analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method. Drug sensitivity of tumor cells of AML patients (n = 37) and the expression of immunological markers were evaluated by the WST test and flow cytometry, respectively. Correlation analysis was performed using Spearman's rank order correlation coefficient.

RESULTS:

We found the treatment regimen to be the defining factor in the patient survival rate. In addition, the initial responsiveness of tumor cells to chemotherapeutic drugs measured in vitro at diagnosis correlated with the therapy response of AML: patients with high tumor cell sensitivity to particular cytotoxic drugs demonstrated a good response to treatment including these drugs, and patients with initial resistance of tumor cells to a particular chemotherapeutic agents and received it according to the clinical protocols demonstrated a poor response to antitumor therapy. Correlations of drug resistance in leukemic cells with the expression of immature and aberrant immunophenotype markers as established unfavorable prognostic factors confirm our assumption.

CONCLUSION:

The evaluation of the responsiveness of tumor cells to chemotherapy in vitro at diagnosis can be a useful tool for predicting the response of leukemia patients to planned chemotherapy.

• Authors: Maria A Kolesnikova, Aleksandra V Sen'kova, Tatiana I Pospelova, Marina A Zenkova
• Journal: Cancer reports (Hoboken, N.J.) (Cancer Rep (Hoboken)) Vol. 4 Issue 4 Pg. e1362 (08 2021) ISSN: 2573-8348 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 33675187 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Observational Study, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
• Copyright: © 2021 The Authors. Cancer Reports published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.

Topics

• Adult
• Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols (pharmacology, therapeutic use)
• Bone Marrow (pathology)
• Drug Resistance, Neoplasm
• Female
• Flow Cytometry
• Humans
• Immunophenotyping
• Kaplan-Meier Estimate
• Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute (blood, diagnosis, drug therapy, mortality)
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Primary Cell Culture
• Prognosis
• Retrospective Studies
• Survival Rate
• Treatment Outcome
• Tumor Cells, Cultured (drug effects)