Pilot study on RECAF (Receptor for Alpha-Fetoprotein) expression in pediatric acute leukemia: insights from flow cytometry analysis.
This pilot case-control study reports higher flow-cytometric RECAF expression in children with newly diagnosed ALL or AML than in non-malignant controls and proposes a positivity cutoff of at least 13.31%.
Open original publication →What the AI sees
This pilot case-control study reports higher flow-cytometric RECAF expression in children with newly diagnosed ALL or AML than in non-malignant controls and proposes a positivity cutoff of at least 13.31%.
Research significance
Evidence: RECAF expression distinguished acute leukemia samples from controls in this cohort. Inference requiring prospective validation: adding RECAF to flow-cytometry panels might improve blast identification or measurable residual disease monitoring and could eventually support treatment-response assessment, but no therapeutic intervention or MRD performance was tested.
Source abstract
BACKGROUND: Acute leukemia is the most common cancer in children, highlighting the importance of early diagnosis. RECAF is an AFP receptor that is abnormally re-expressed in various malignant tumors, serving as a promising biomarker for tumors. AIM: This study aimed to assess the clinical utility of RECAF expression by flow cytometry immunophenotyping in pediatric de novo acute leukemia patients. METHODS: Our study was conducted in 80 pediatric patients with acute leukemia, comprising 40 newly diagnosed ALL patients, 40 newly diagnosed AML patients, and 40 age- and sex-matched non-malignant control subjects. Flow cytometric analysis for the Acute Leukemia panel and RECAF expression was performed on all subjects, along with other laboratory and clinical parameters. RESULTS: Our study revealed that RECAF expression was significantly higher in patients with acute leukemia than in controls. We also established a cutoff of ≥ 13.31% for positive RECAF expression by flow cytometry to distinguish RECAF-positive acute leukemia patients from FECAF-negative patients and normal controls. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that RECAF could be an important biomarker for differentiating leukemic blasts and may become a useful tool for monitoring measurable residual disease in the future. Such advancements have the potential to improve clinical outcomes and enhance patient monitoring and management for this high-risk group.