Prognostic implications of the immunophenotype in biphenotypic acute leukemia

The present study retrospectively analyzed clinicopathological and clinical data from 43 adult patients with biphenotypic acute leukemia (BAL) from 11 Korean institutes. The incidence of BAL was 2.1% among acute leukemias. In terms of immunophenotype, 31 patients had myeloid plus B-lymphoid (M + B), 10 had myeloid plus T-lymphoid (M + T), one had myeloid plus B-lymphoid plus T-lymphoid (M + B + T), and one had B-lymphoid plus T-lymphoid (B + T). Patients with M + T phenotype had significantly lower CR rate (55.6% vs. 88.0%, P = 0.039) and lower overall survival (0% vs. 33.9% at 5 years, P = 0.028) than those with M + B phenotype. Our results suggest that immunophenotype has prognostic implications in adult patients with BAL.