Objectives: We compared the percentages of memory T cells in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) to healthy controls and tried to detect any association of these cells to treatment outcome.

Methods: The study involved 34 adult patients with AML and 24 healthy controls. Following the diagnosis of AML, blood samples were collected from patients and controls for flow cytometric detection of CD8+ T, CD4+ T, TN, TEM, TCM, TEMRA, and TSCM subsets of both CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells.

Results: No significant differences in the mean percentages of CD4+ T-cell types between AML patients and controls, with the exception of the total percentage of CD4+ T-cells which accumulated in controls, furthermore, significant accumulations of CD8+ TEMRA, CD8+ CD45+ RO, and CD8+ TEM were detected in patients compared with controls, while CD8+, CD8+ TNs, CD8+ TSCM, and CD8+ TCM accumulated in controls compared to patients, moreover, significant elevations of total CD8+ T-cells, CD8+ TEMRA, CD8+ TSCM, CD8+ TCM, and CD8+ TEM in patients with remission compared to those without remission, on the contrary, CD4+ T memory cells did not show any significant differences.

Conclusion: Our results showed that accumulation of CD8+ T memory cells in AML patients, especially those who achieved remission, could enhance the immune response, particularly in those at high risk of relapse after bone marrow transplantation.