RBC Deformability During Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Treatment

Philadelphia chromosome positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph+ ALL) is the most common genetic subgroup in adult ALL, and its incidence increases with age. In this longitudinal single-subject study, we investigate erythrocyte deformability as a disease-associated biomechanical marker in parallel with clinical, hematological, and molecular response throughout the treatment process in a 75-year-old patient diagnosed with Ph+ ALL. Using optical tweezers, we performed high-resolution single-cell mechanical stretching experiments to quantify the deformability of individual RBCs obtained from the patient and a healthy control. Our measurements reveal a pronounced relation between state of diseases/therapy and RBC deformability in the ALL patient, indicating systemic alterations in cellular biomechanics associated with leukemic pathophysiology. These findings suggest that changes in RBC mechanical properties, probed through non-invasive optical tweezers-based techniques, may accompany disease presence and progression.