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CD73 (5′-nucleotidase) expression has no prognostic value in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Leukemia volume 25, pages 1374–1376 (2011)Cite this article

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Ecto-5′-nucleotidase, also known as CD73, is a glycosyl phosphatidylinositol-linked enzyme on the cell surface of a variety of cell types,1, 2 which catalyzes the dephosphorylation of AMP and other nucleoside monophosphates.1 CD73, originally defined as a lymphocyte differentiation antigen, is thought to function as an adhesion molecule necessary for lymphocyte binding to endothelium3 and a co-signaling molecule on T lymphocytes when ligated by antibodies.1

Two earlier studies showed the expression of CD73 on childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) cells.4, 5 The expression of CD73 in common ALL (C-ALL) and pre-B-ALL varied from absent to very high and was low or absent in T-lineage ALL, pro-B-ALL and mature B-ALL. Both our earlier studies suggested that a high expression of CD73 was related to a poor prognosis in pre-B-ALL and C-ALL.4, 5 However, both studies were retrospective and included only small series of patients. Therefore, we evaluated prospectively whether CD73 predicts outcome in a recent treatment protocol for childhood ALL. The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatric Oncology/Hematology, Erasmus MC–Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    E Wieten & R Pieters

  2. Dutch Childhood Oncology Group, Hague, The Netherlands

    B E M van der Linden-Schrever, E Sonneveld & A J Veerman

  3. Department of Paediatric Oncology, VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    A J Veerman

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  1. E Wieten
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  2. B E M van der Linden-Schrever
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  3. E Sonneveld
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  4. A J Veerman
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  5. R Pieters
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Correspondence to R Pieters.

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Wieten, E., van der Linden-Schrever, B., Sonneveld, E. et al. CD73 (5′-nucleotidase) expression has no prognostic value in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Leukemia 25, 1374–1376 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/leu.2011.174

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