[Monoclonal antibodies ICO-11 in the prognostic evaluation of acute nonlymphoblastic leukemia]

The antigen detectable with monoclonal antibodies ICO-11 was studied in cells of 33 patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and 47 patients with acute non-lymphoblastic leukemia (ANLL). The incidence rate of antigen-positive cases in ALL comprised 39.4%, in ANLL 35.4%. The presence of antigen in blasts in ALL did not influence the disease prognosis. The presence of ICO-11+ blasts in ANLL was characteristic of the group of patients with more favourable prognosis: a higher survival rate, due to a higher frequency of remissions, a longer life-time in the absence of remission. Basing on the clinico-hematological data ICO-11+ group could not be identified as more favourable prognostically.

Two different anti-erythroid monoclonal antibodies in immunodiagnosis of human leukemias: a comparative study

To date, only anti-glycophorin-A monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) have been widely used as anti-erythroid probes in the diagnosis of leukemias. We have examined blood, bone-marrow and lymph-node samples from 474 patients, adults and children, with different hemopoietic malignancies, using a panel of MAbs including 2 anti-erythroid MAbs directed to glycophorin-A and an antigen of erythroblasts, Ag-Eb. MAb HAE9 directed against a human epitope of Ag-Eb has earlier been shown to be highly specific for immature erythroid cells. Of all the patients, 2.7% demonstrated glycophorin-A expression on blast cells, while anti-Ag-Eb MAb HAE9 reacted positively with cells from 6.0% of patients. Samples from 31 of 474 (6.5%) patients expressed one or both erythroid markers. Our results indicate that MAb HAE9 may be useful, in combination with anti-glycophorin-A MAbs, as an anti-erythroid probe for immunophenotyping human leukemias.