Angiogenic Activity in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia

Objectives: Assessment of angiogenic activity through evaluation of Vascular endothelial growth factor concentration and determination of endothelial cells percentage in the peripheral blood of patients with Chronic myeloid leukemia compared to healthy subjects in order to investigate their role in the pathogenesis and for early detection of the disease progression.Subjects and Methods: Twenty patients with Chronic myeloid leukemia and 15 healthy controls were studied. Evaluation of Vascular endothelial growth factor level in serum was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Determination of circulating endothelial cells percentage expressing CD133 and/or CD34 by flow cytometry in the peripheral blood was also done.Results: The level of Vascular endothelial growth factor was significantly elevated in all groups when compared to controls (p=<0.001). A significant increase of endothelial cells was observed in Chronic myeloid leukemia patients with blast crisis phase compared to other phases (p=<0.001). In patients with chronic phase and accelerated phase the number of endothelial cells was slightly increased compared to the control group but the differences were not statistically significant.Conclusion: The level of Vascular endothelial growth factor was highly elevated in all phases of Chronic myeloid leukemia. While the flow cytometric evaluation of endothelial cell surface markers in the blood of Chronic myeloid leukemia patients can identify a subset of patients with a more aggressive disease course.