association of cd34 expression with future relapse in pediatric t-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Background: developing novel prognostic markers is crucial for childhood t-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (t-all). objectives: this study aimed to investigate whether the prognostic impact of cd34, a progenitor marker, is associated with outcomes.methods: this retrospective cohort study included 82 risk-adapted pediatric patients with t-all who were treated under the national protocol of childhood all in china (npclc)-all2008 from march 2008 to december 2016. results: cd34 expression was observed in 37.8% of all t-all patients, with a median expression level of 62.7%. patients with cd34 expression had a favorable event-free survival (efs, 74.2% [66.3% - 82.1%]) with a hazard ratio of 0.69 (p = 0.33) and a reduced cumulative incidence of relapse (cir, 22.6% [15.0% - 30.2%]; p = 0.86) at five years. even after adjusting for potential factors and competing events in multivariable regression models, there was no connection between the cd34 immunophenotype and the risk of recurrence. conclusions: cd34 expression did not serve as a predictive factor for relapse in this limited series. larger multicenter studies are recommended to determine whether this biomarker at initial diagnosis can predict outcomes.