Prognostic significance of survivin and tumor necrosis factor-alpha in adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia

► Treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in adults presents a formidable challenge. ► ALL patients suffer from refractory or recurrent disease and cannot be cured with conventional chemotherapy. ► We examined the levels of survivin and TNF- in the circulation of adult patients with newly diagnosed untreated ALL and after initial treatment. ► Higher levels of survivin and TNF- were detected in ALL patients that were correlated with risk factors in ALL as peripheral blast cells and Philadelphia chromosome.