The percentage of myeloperoxidase-positive blast cells is a strong independent prognostic factor in acute myeloid leukemia, even in the patients with normal karyotype

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Abstract
To examine whether the percentage of myeloperoxidase (MPO)-positive blast cells is useful as a prognostic factor for acute myeloid leukemia (AML), cytochemical analysis of MPO was performed in 491 patients who were registered to the Japan Adult Leukemia Study Group-AML92 study. Patients were divided into two using the percentage of MPO-positive blast (high [50%] and low (P=0.001). The overall survival (OS) and the disease-free survival (DFS) were significantly better in the high MPO group (48.3 vs 18.7% for OS, and 36.3 vs 20.1% for DFS, PP<0.001). The OS of patients with normal karyotype in the high MPO group was almost equal with that of the favorable chromosomal risk group. The percentage of MPO-positive blast cells is a simple and highly significant prognostic factor for AML patients, and especially useful to stratify patients with normal karyotype.