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Serum levels of the nm23-H1 protein and their clinical implication in extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma

Leukemia volume 17, pages 987–990 (2003)Cite this article

TO THE EDITOR

Extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma, nasal type (NK-NHL), is a rare disease in North America and Europe, but is not uncommon in Asia and South America. This lymphoma is characterized by extranodal presentation, angiocentric and angiodestructive proliferation of cells including large granular lymphocytes, and rather characteristic pheno- and genotypes characterized by CD2+, CD3ɛ+, surface CD3−, CD16−/+, CD56+, CD57−, and the absence of clonal rearrangements of T-cell receptor (TCR) genes. Clinically, localized NK-NHL is usually sensitive to radiation therapy. However, the prognosis is usually poor once dissemination occurs, and long-term remission even with aggressive chemotherapy is rare. At present, an elevated serum LDH level and the presence of B symptoms are known to be poor prognostic factors. We previously found that a differentiation inhibitory factor (I-factor) purified from a differentiation-resistant mouse myelogenous leukemia cell line was identical to nm23 protein.1 Recently, we established an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique of determining the serum level of nm23-H1 protein,2 and reported that the level in patients with aggressive lymphoma was significantly higher than that in healthy individuals. Furthermore, this assay system can be useful to determine the therapeutic strategy for aggressive lymphoma since the prognosis is worse in patients with a high nm23-H1 level. In the present study, we report that the serum level of nm23-H1 was elevated in patients with NK-NHL, and that the level was significantly correlated with the clinical outcome. It is suggested by these findings that the serum level of nm23-H1 may be a valuable prognostic factor for patients with NK-NHL.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by a grant from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) and Cancer Research, from The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT) Japan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Hematology and Internal Medicine IV, Kitasato University School of Medicine, Kanagawa, Japan

    N Niitsu & M Higashihara

  2. Department of Internal Medicine, Fujita Health University School of Medicine, Toyoake, Japan

    M Okamoto & M Hirano

  3. Saitama Cancer Center Research Institute, Saitama, Japan

    Y Honma & J Okabe-Kado

  4. Department of Clinical and Laboratory Medicine, Wakayama Medical University, Wakayama, Japan

    H Nakamine

  5. Department of Pathology, Saitama Medical Center, Saitama Medical School, Kawagoe, Japan

    J-I Tamaru

  6. Department of Pathology and Genetics, Aichi Cancer Center, Nagoya, Japan

    S Nakamura

  7. Department of Pathology, Okayama University Medical School, Okayama, Japan

    T Yoshino

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  1. N Niitsu
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Adult Lymphoma Treatment Study Group (ALTSG), Japan

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Niitsu, N., Okamoto, M., Honma, Y. et al. Serum levels of the nm23-H1 protein and their clinical implication in extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma. Leukemia 17, 987–990 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.leu.2402858

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