الفهرس | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) is a fast-growing cancer in which the body produces a large number of immature white blood cells (lymphocytes). These cells can be found in the blood, bone marrow, lymph nodes, spleen, and other organs. ALL makes up to 80% of childhood acute leukemias. Most cases occur in children between ages 3 and 7. Recent advances have raised hope that all acute leukemias and in particular (ALL) may become curable disease. Tumor markers are well accepted parameters for the diagnosis and follow up malignancies including ALL. Zeta-associated protein (ZAP)-70, a member of the Syk family of tyrosine kinases, plays an important role in T-cell receptor signaling, and natural killer (NK) cell activation. So, in the previous years this molecule was considered to be T-cell specific. More recent data have also documented a role of ZAP-70 in B cells. ZAP-70 has been shown to be expressed in CLL and correlated with poor prognosis in cases in which it is expressed. Recent reports indicated that ZAP-70 expression is not limited to chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) but can also be found in other hematologic malignancies, such as precursor B-cell ALL, mantle-lymphoma, diffuse large BBcell lymphoma, and Burkitt’s lymphoma. In current study we studied sixty one (61) patients suffering from ALL (precursor B). Their ages ranged from 2 years to 27 years old. They were 34 males and 27 females. All patients were subjected to full clinical history and physical examination and the routine panel of investigation was done. All patients were tested for ZAP-70 expression at diagnosis to assess its possible prognostic significance in treatment outcome. The study revealed expression ofZAP-70 in 6/61 cases, 1/34 males (2.9%) and 5/27 females (18.5%). Our results were not significant may be due to biological and genetic differences between our patients and other patients in other studies or due to other causes as difference in age of the group of patients selected for. |