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Myelodisplasias

Prevalence and clinical association of clonal T-cell expansions in Myelodysplastic Syndrome

Leukemia volume 21, pages 659–667 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

Selected patients with Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS) are responsive to immunosuppressive therapy, suggesting that hematopoietic suppressive T cells have a pathogenic role in ineffective hematopoiesis. We assessed T-cell receptor (TCR) clonality through combined flow cytometry and molecular analysis of the complementarity determining region (CDR)-3 of the T-cell receptor-Vβ gene. We identified clonal T cells in 50% of MDS patients (n=52) compared to 5% of age-matched normal controls (n=20). The presence of T-cell clones was not associated with features linked previously to immunosuppression response, including WHO diagnostic category, karyotype, marrow cellularity, IPSS category, sex or age ⩽60. Using flow cytometry to identify expanded Vβ-families, we found that T cells showed greater expansion in the bone marrow compared with peripheral blood, and were characterized as CD8+/CD57+/CD28− effector T cells. Expanded effector T cell were CD62L negative and expressed the natural killer C-lectin-family receptor NKG2D and CD244 (2B4). We conclude that clonal T-cell expansion is common among all MDS prognostic subgroups.

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Acknowledgements

Supported by grants from the Veterans' Administration and NCI (CA112112-01A1). Work was performed in conjunction with the Department of Esoteric Testing, Tampa, FL and the Flow Cytometry Core Facility at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL 33612. We thank Ms Candace Fennell of the Department of Esoteric Testing, Tampa, FL, for contribution to this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Immunology Program, H Lee Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL, USA

    P K Epling-Burnette, J S Painter, J X Zou & F Bai

  2. Department of Interdisciplinary Oncology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA

    P K Epling-Burnette, D E Rollison, F Bai & A F List

  3. Malignant Hematology Division, H Lee Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL, USA

    P K Epling-Burnette, E Ku & A F List

  4. Research Department, James A Haley VA Hospital, Tampa, FL, USA

    P K Epling-Burnette

  5. Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, H Lee Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL, USA

    D E Rollison

  6. Department of Esoteric Testing, Tampa General Hospital, Tampa, FL, USA

    D Vendron & R Widen

  7. Department of Biostatistics, H Lee Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL, USA

    D Boulware

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  1. P K Epling-Burnette
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Correspondence to P K Epling-Burnette.

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Epling-Burnette, P., Painter, J., Rollison, D. et al. Prevalence and clinical association of clonal T-cell expansions in Myelodysplastic Syndrome. Leukemia 21, 659–667 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.leu.2404590

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