Purpose: Classification of acute leukemia is based on the commitment of leukemic cells to the myeloid or the lymphoid lineage. However, a small percentage of acute leukemia cases lack straightforward immunophenotypical lineage commitment. These leukemias of ambiguous lineage represent a heterogeneous category of acute leukemia that cannot be classified as either acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or acute lymphoid leukemia (ALL). The lack of clear classification of acute leukemias of ambiguous lineage as either AML or ALL is a hurdle in treatment choice for these patients.
Experimental design: Here, we compared the microRNA (miRNA) expression profiles of 17 cases with acute leukemia of ambiguous lineage and 16 cases of AML, B-cell acute lymphoid leukemia (B-ALL), and T-cell acute lymphoid leukemia (T-ALL).
Results: We show that leukemias of ambiguous lineage do not segregate as a separate entity but exhibit miRNA expression profiles similar to AML, B-ALL, or T-ALL. We show that by using only 5 of the most lineage-discriminative miRNAs, we are able to define acute leukemia of ambiguous lineage as either AML or ALL.
Conclusion: Our results indicate the presence of a myeloid or lymphoid lineage-specific genotype, as reflected by miRNA expression, in these acute leukemias despite their ambiguous immunophenotype. miRNA-based classification of acute leukemia of ambiguous lineage might be of additional value in therapeutic decision making.