Expressão dos níveis séricos de sCD44, sE-caderina e sEpCAM no seguimento de crianças com Leucemia Linfoblástica Aguda

Abstract

Cellular adhesion molecules could be useful biomarkers in some types of malignant tumors, providing valuable information in diagnosis and prognosis. The aberrant expression and high soluble levels of some adhesion molecules, such as CD44, E-cadherin and EpCAM, are associated with many solid tumors and hematological malignancies, including acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), related to proliferation, invasion tumor and metastases. E-cadherin and EpCAM are important molecules related to cell-to-cell adhesion, while CD44 is an important factor for cell-to-extracellular matrix adhesion.The purpose of the present study was to ascertain the serum levels of soluble adhesion molecules in children with ALL remission and to establish a possible correlation of these molecules in these patients. It was performed sCD44, sE-cadherin and sEpCAM dosage by commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits of 20 children from 0 to 13 years old, with ALL remission, treated at the Cancer Hospital of the Federal University of Uberlândia, according to the protocol of the Brazilian Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Treatment Group, and 16 healthy controls in the similar age. There was no statistical difference between circulating serum levels of sCD44 and sE-cadherin in patients with ALL remission and control (p=0.807 and p=0.226, respectively), whereas serum levels of sEpCAM were significantly lower in patients compared to the control group (p = 0.01). In addition, sCD44 and sE-cadherin showed a strong linear correlation. It is concluded that children with LLA remission have no difference in serum levels of sCD44 and sE-cadherin, with the exception of sEpCAM, compared to healthy children. The level of sE-cadherin seems to be associated with the level of sCD44 in children with ALL. As a future perspective, it is proposed to analyze the expression of CD44, E-cadherin and EpCAM in their membrane forms, related with the populations of blasts, and correlate with the serum levels of these molecules in children with ALL. It will be better to clarify the function of these adhesion molecules in this hematological neoplasia, and its relationship with disease activity and as prognostic factors.