Ann Lab Med.  2019 Jul;39(4):358-366. 10.3343/alm.2019.39.4.358.

The Incidence and Immunophenotypic and Genetic Features of JL1 Expressing Cells and the Therapeutic Potential of an Anti-JL1 Antibody in De Novo Pediatric Acute Leukemias

• Park SH
• You E
• Park CJ
• Jang S
• Cho YU
• Yoon CH
• Koh KN
• Im HJ
• Seo JJ

• KMID: 2438882
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3343/alm.2019.39.4.358

Abstract

BACKGROUND
JL1 is a newly identified CD43 epitope that specifically recognizes leukemic cells. We analyzed the incidence of JL1 expression and compared the clinical, immunophenotypic, and genetic characteristics of de novo pediatric acute leukemia patients with respect to JL1 expression status to determine the therapeutic potential of an anti-JL1 antibody.
METHODS
Seventy-eight patients with pediatric acute leukemia (52 with ALL, 26 with AML) diagnosed between December 2014 and January 2016 were enrolled prospectively. Flow cytometry for JL1 expression was performed at diagnosis. Clinical, immunophenotypic, and genetic characteristics were compared with respect to JL1 expression status by the Student t-test/Mann-Whitney U test and chi-square test/Fisher's exact test.
RESULTS
The incidence of JL1 expression was 76.9% and 84.6% in ALL and AML patients, respectively. ALL patients with JL1 expression showed higher CD10 and cytoplasmic IgM expressions than those without JL1 expression (P=0.022 and 0.003, respectively) and were associated with TCF3-PBX1 and KMT2A-MLLT1 translocations. AML patients with JL1 expression showed higher CD13 and lower CD65 and CD15 expressions than those without JL1 expression (P=0.013, 0.007, and 0.024, respectively) and were associated with RUNX1-RUNX1T1, PML-RARA, and CBFB-MYH11 translocations. The JL1 expression incidence did not differ between ALL and AML, and the JL1 expression status did not affect prognosis.
CONCLUSIONS
Our findings support the potential therapeutic role of anti-JL1 monoclonal antibodies; JL1 expression was associated with specific immunophenotypes and genetic abnormalities. Future studies should examine the prognostic impact of JL1 expression in pediatric acute leukemias.

Keyword

Immunophenotypic; Genetic; JL1 expression; Pediatric acute leukemias; Prognosis

MeSH Terms

Antibodies, Monoclonal
Cytoplasm
Diagnosis
Flow Cytometry
Humans
Immunoglobulin M
Incidence*
Leukemia*
Prognosis
Prospective Studies
Antibodies, Monoclonal
Immunoglobulin M

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Schematic illustration of JL1 expression analysis by flow cytometry. The initial cutoff threshold of fluorescence intensity for positive expression of JL1 determined using isotypic controls was validated with an internal control (lymphocytes) (A). JL1 expression in myeloid immature cells, and B-ALL examples of JL1 expression and without JL1 expression in leukemic blasts are given in (B–D), respectively (5.8%, 90.8%, and 3.9%, respectively).Abbreviations: CD, cluster of differentiations; SSC, side scattering; FSC, forward scattering; PE, phycoerythrin; APC, allophycocyanin.

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