Influence of cytogenetic risk group on CD34⁺cell apoptosis and Bcl-2–related protein expression.

The degree of CD34⁺ cell apoptosis (A) and Bax, Bad, Bcl-2, and Bcl-X expression (B) was compared in MDS/MDS-AML patients with good (normal karyotype or isolated deletions of 5q or 20q), intermediate (≤2 cytogenetic abnormalities, excluding isolated 5q or 20q deletions and chromosome 7 abnormalities) and poor risk (> 2 abnormalities and/or abnormalities of chromosome 7). Apoptosis was additionally evaluated in patients harboring aberrations of chromosome 7.