Background: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a common hematological malignancy associated with different cytogenetic and genetic abnormalities. Methods: FLT3-internal tandem duplication (FLT3/ITD) mutation and CD34 expression levels were assessed in the bone marrow (BM) aspirates of 153 de novo AML patients. Data were correlated with relevant clinic-pathological features of the patients, response to treatment, disease-free survival (DFS), and overall free survival (OS) rates. Results: FLT3-ITD mutation was detected in 27/153 (17.6%) AML patients (P=0.001), and CD34 was expressed in 83/153 (54.2%) patients (P=0.293) compared to those with wild FLT3 and CD34 − expression, respectively. Patients with FLT3-ITD mutation showed increased peripheral blood and BM blast cells, abnormal cytogenetics, poor DFS and OS compared to those with wild FLT3 (P=0.013, P<0.001, P=0.010, P=0.008 and P=0.004, respectively), while there was no significant association with response to treatment (P=0.081). There was no significant association between CD34 expression and response to treatment, DFS, and OS (P>0.05). FLT3-ITD mutation and FAB subtypes were independent prognostic factors for DFS. Older age ≥39 years, HB <7 mg/dL PB blast ≥54%, and FLT3-ITD mutation were independent prognostic factors for poor OS in AML patients. The presence of both FLT3-ITD mutation and CD34 expression associated significantly with resistance to therapy (P=0.024), short DFS and OS rates (P=0.006, P=0.037, respectively). Conclusion: Combined expression of both FLT3-ITD mutation and CD34 expression is an important prognostic and predictive factor for poor disease outcome in AML patients.

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The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic resulted in more than five hundred million infected cases worldwide. The current study aimed to screen the correlation of different laboratory findings with disease severity and clinical outcomes of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) among Egyptian patients to obtain prognostic indicators of disease severity and outcome. A total of 112 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patients were examined. According to the severity of the disease, these patients were divided into three main groups: mild, moderate and severe cases. In addition, clinical characteristics and laboratory findings, including Hb, platelet count, white blood cell count, lymphocyte percentage, neutrophil percentage, neutrophil lymphocyte ratio (NLR), D-dimer, highly sensitive C-reactive protein (HS-CRP), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and creatinine, were measured. The presence of hypertension and/or diabetes was found to be a significant risk factor for disease severity and poor outcome. Increased respiratory rate, levels of SpO2, HS-CRP, D-dimer, NLR, ALT, LDH, lymphopenia and neutrophilia, as well as changes in chest computed tomography (CT), were associated with increased disease severity and fatal consequences. Highly sensitive C-reactive protein, D-dimer, NLR and LDH constituted excellent predictors for both disease severity and death. Laboratory biomarkers, such as HS-CRP, D-dimer, NLR and LDH, are excellent predictors for both disease severity and death. They can predict mortality in patients at the time of admission secondary to SARS-CoV-2 infection and can help physicians identify high-risk patients before clinical deterioration.

Introduction: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is the most common type of acute leukemia in adults. HLA-DR and CD117 (c-Kit) are important diagnostic markers of AML. Our objective is to determine the prognostic significance of HLA-DR and CD117 expressions in newly diagnosed AML patients and determine the correlation between HLA-DR and CD117 expressions and other prognostic markers such as cytogenetic abnormalities, FLT3-ITD, response to treatment, and patient's survival. Methods: This study included 100 newly diagnosed AML patients. All patients were subjected to clinical, morphological, cytochemical, cytogenetic analysis, molecular genetic analysis to detect FLT3-ITD, and Flowcytometric detection of HLA-DR, CD117, and CD 34. Results: The results showed that HLA-DR expression was found in 75 patients (77.3%), while CD117 expression was found in 63 patients (64.9%). Patients with HLA-DR expression showed significantly higher mean Hb concentration, significantly higher platelet count, associated with AML-FAB subtypes (M0, M1, and M2), CD34 expression, and favorable cytogenetic group. M3 subtype was significantly associated with HLA-DR-ve. While patients with CD117 expression showed significantly lower platelets count. Double positive patients (HLA-DR+ve/CD117+ve) showed significant association with the intermediate cytogenetic group, while double-negative patients (HLA-DR-ve/CD117-ve) were associated with the favorable and intermediate cytogenetic group and either positive (HLA-DR+ve /CD117-ve or HLA-DR-ve/CD117+ve) associated with poor cytogenetic groups. FLT3-ITD expression had significantly worse overall survival. Conclusion:The current study suggested that the expression of CD117 and HLA-DR may be a prognostic marker in AML, as they are associated with M0, M1, and M2 FAB subtypes; moreover, patients with combined HLA-DR and CD117 positive expression are associated with CD34 expression and intermediate cytogenetic group.

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Introduction Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is the most common type of leukemia among adults and is characterized by various genetic abnormalities. HOXB4 and PRDM16 are promising markers of AML. Our objective is to assess the potential roles of HOXB4 and PRDM16 as prognostic and predictive markers in newly diagnosed AML patients and determine the correlation between their expressions and other prognostic markers as FLT3-ITD, NPM1 exon 12 mutations, response to treatment, and patient’s survival. Methods This study included 83 de novo AML adult patients. All patients were subjected to clinical, morphological, cytochemical, and molecular analysis to detect HOXB4 and PRDM16 gene expressions and FLT3-ITD, NPM1 exon 12 mutations. Results The results showed that a low expression of HOXB4 was found in 31.3% of AML patients, whereas a high expression of PRDM16 was evident in 33.8% of AML patients. FLT3-ITD mutations were detected in 6 patients (7.2%), while NPM1 exon 12 mutations were detected in 7 patients (19.4%) out of 36 patients with intermediate genetic risk. Out of the 50 patients who achieved complete remission (CR), relapse occurred in 16% of the cases. Low expression of HOXB4 and high expression of PRDM1 6 were associated with CR of 32% and 28%, respectively, and a short overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS). Conclusion Further larger study should be conducted to verify that high PRDM16 and low HOXB4 gene expressions could be used as a poor prognostic predictor for AML. The correlation between PRDM16 and HOXB4 gene expressions and FLT3-ITD and NPM1 exon 12 mutations might have a role on CR, relapse, OS, and, however, this should be clarified in analysis with a larger number of samples.