Clinical significance of the TNF-α receptors, TNFRSF2 and TNFRSF9, on cell migration molecules Fascin-1 and Versican in acute leukemia.

In human hematologic malignancies, some of the TNF receptor family members are up-regulated and have the ability to evoke reactions favoring tumor progression. Moreover, cell migration molecules, Fascin-1 and Versican are involved in proliferation, migration and invasion of cancer cells. They are linked to many human cancers. Therefore, we conducted this study to evaluate both the plasma and leukocytes concentrations of tumor necrosis factor receptor super family 2 (TNFRSF2), TNFRSF9, Fascin-1 and Versican in patients with acute leukemia, as well as to correlate these values with clinical features and treatment outcome. Therefore, forty-eight patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), thirty-two patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and fifteen control subjects were included. TNFRSF2, TNFRSF9, Fascin-1 and Versican were measured in plasma and leukocytes of all subjects by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. We found that plasma TNFRSF9 was highly elevated in ALL and AML as compared with the control group. In addition, AML patients who failed to achieve complete remission showed a significant increase in leukocytes TNFRSF9 level. TNFRSF2 is significantly increased in plasma and leukocytes of ALL patients when compared with the control group and AML patients. Fascin-1 significantly increased in AML, but not in ALL cases. Plasma and leukocytes levels of Versican significantly increased in AML compared to both control and ALL subjects. Plasma Versican correlated with poor response to induction of chemotherapy in AML cases. In conclusion, TNFRSF2 and TNFRSF9 could act as a possible prognostic biomarkers for the outcomes of ALL patients and TNFRSF9 could be a potential target in AML. Versican may be used as a diagnostic biomarker and as a predictor of the response to chemotherapy in AML. In addition, plasma Fascin-1 is a potential biomarker for AML.