CD56 and CD11b Positivity with Low Smac/DIABLO Expression as Predictors of Chemoresistance in Acute Myeloid Leukaemia: Flow Cytometric Analysis

BACKGROUND: Resistance to chemotherapy is a major obstacle to curing acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), and several antigens are claimed to play primary roles in this resistance. PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the roles of CD56, CD11b and Smac/DIABLO gene expression levels as prognostic markers of the clinical outcome, response to chemotherapy and survival of AML patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted on 60 naïve-AML patients who received induction therapy with mitoxantrone and cytarabine combined with a high dose of cytarabine. The CD56,CD11b and Smac/DIABLO expression levels were assessed using flow cytometry at diagnosis and were analysed for correlation with the possible associated risk factors, response to chemotherapy, and median duration of disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). RESULTS: The overall results revealed that AML patients who exhibited positive expression for CD56 and CD11b had short median durations of DFS and OS.(P = 0.019, 0.006, 0.029 and 0.024, respectively). Additionally, low Smac/DIABLO expression had a negative impact on treatment outcome in terms of CR rate (p=0.012) and reduced DFS (p=0.000) and OS(p=0.000) values. CONCLUSIONS: CD56 and CD11b positivity and low Smac/DIABLO expression are important predictive factors for the occurrence of chemoresistance, in addition to other risk factors, among AML patients.