Characterization Of Cd9-Cxcl12-Cxcr4 Expression In Biological Subtypes Of Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: Preliminary Findings And Future Perspectives

Background. Although the prognosis of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) has improved considerably in recent years, some cases still exhibit therapy-resistance and late relapse. CD9-CXCL12-CXCR4 pathway has been implicated in hematopoietic and leukemic stem cell homing, promoting cell adhesion and survival in bone marrow stromal niches and mediating cell dissemination to secondary lymphoid organs. We characterized the CD9-CXCL12-CXCR4 expression in specific biological subgroups of childhood ALL, comparing, in some cases, diagnosis vs relapse, in order to investigate the role of these genes, in the process of leukemia relapse and to preliminarily evaluate their impact as prognostic markers, even for those subtypes with well-established good outcome.