VCZ-C<sub>min</sub> was significantly correlated with IL-18 in acute myeloid leukemia (r = 0.456; P ˂ .0001), acute lymphoblastic leukemia (r = 0.317; P = .019), and chronic myeloid leukemia (r = 0.737; P = .004) while VCZ-C<sub>min</sub> and TGF-β1 were correlated (r = 0.436; P ˂ .001) in acute myeloid leukemia patients only.
We have shown that specific cytokines FLT3 ligand and TGFβ1 both of which are produced from bone marrow stromal cells synergistically induced MLL+ALL cells into chemo-resistant quiescence, and that treatment of MLL+ALL cells with inhibitors against FLT3 and/or TGFβ1 receptor partially but significantly converts them toward chemo-sensitive.
Although, positivity rate of both Smad7 and TGF-β1 in ALL group increased with presence of hepatosplenomegaly, still there was no statistical significance.