Background and aims: Acute leukemia (AL) is a heterogeneous group of diseases characterized by a disorganized clone proliferation of hematopoietic cells. Thymidine kinase (TK) is a cell enzyme involved in DNA synthesis and is considered a cellular proliferation marker in some solid tumors.
Methods: A cross-sectional prospective and comparative study was performed in the Federico Gomez Children's Hospital in Mexico (HIMFG, in Spanish) in 125 samples of patients of the HIMFG with AL and 138 samples of children without leukemia. Serum TK levels were determined for both groups.
Results: Of the children with AL, 90 presented B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL); 13, T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL); and 22, acute myeloid leukemia (AML). A median (m) TK level of 23.7 IU (IQR 17-35.7) was observed in the group without AL and 91 IU (IQR 98-392) in the AL group. This difference was statistically significant (p <0.0001). When analyzing TK levels according to the type of leukemia, the m was as follows: 68 IU (IQR 35-118) for B-ALL, 470 IU (IQR 88-750) for AML, and 1678 IU (IQR 288-2108) for T- ALL.
Conclusion: TK is an enzyme showing heterogeneous levels in B-ALL although it is significantly increased in 90% of patients with T-ALL and AML.
Keywords: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL); Acute myeloid leukemia (AML); Deoxythymidine triphosphate (dTTP); Reference values (RVs); Thymidine kinase 1 (TK1).
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