Various aspects of bone marrow cell proliferation in acute leukemia

AIM: To study proliferation of bone marrow cells in acute leukemia using flow DNA-cytometry. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Parameters of the cell cycle (S, G2 + M, G1/0) and myelogram were studied in 55 patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and 46 patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in remission (135 cases) and acute period (66 cases). Only cases with cell clones containing normal (diploid) number of DNA were included. RESULTS: In acute period, distribution of AML cases by the percentage of cells in S-phase of the cellular cycle was normal, in ALL--log-normal. In remission it was lognormal in both leukemias. Variability of cell cycle parameters in leukemia in some patients was much less than a mean sample one. The reestablishment of proliferation after chemotherapy (7 + 3) in AML was followed up. CONCLUSION: If proliferative activity of blast (tumor) cells in AML is subnormal (10%), proliferation of myelokaryocytes can be used as an additional test for assessment of remission completeness.