Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukaemia
- 1 July 1975
- journal article
- Published by Wiley in British Journal of Haematology
- Vol. 30 (3), 289-302
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2141.1975.tb00544.x
Abstract
Summary. The natural history and haematological features of 18 patients with a chronic form of myelomonocytic leukaemia are described. The majority were elderly and, in this series, females predominated. Haematological prodomata, such as unexplained monocytosis, leucopenia, or thrombocytopenia were common, and the clinical onset was insidious. Splenomegaly was variable but tended to increase as the disease progressed. Anaemia was usually less than in the acute disease, unless compounded by iron deficiency. The blood film typically showed a mixed monocytosis and granulo-cytosis, cells in both lines showing abnormalities. ‘Paramyeloid’ cells, appearing in Romanowsky stained films intermediate between myelocytes and monocytes, were characteristic, although cytochemical and electron microscopical analysis suggests that these cells may be allotted to one or other cell line. The marrow aspirate was characteristically hypercellular, showed granulocytic hyperplasia, and, in contrast to the well-differentiated blood picture, the proportion of poorly differentiated cells, including blasts, was high. Serum lysozyme levels were usually raised. Five of the 18 cases survived more than 5 years, while 10 lived 2 years or longer. The morphological and clinical features form part of a spectrum including acute myelomonocytic leukaemia, into which several of the patients transformed. Recognition of the syndrome is important because the patients are probably best managed without intensive chemotherapy.Keywords
This publication has 21 references indexed in Scilit:
- Identification of Promonocytes and Monocytoid Precursors in Acute Leukaemia of Adults: Ultrastructural and Cytochemical ObservationsBritish Journal of Haematology, 1974
- Preleukemia: The hematologie syndrome preceding acute leukemiaAmerican Journal Of Medicine, 1973
- Human leukaemia: recent tissue culture studies on the nature of myeloid leukaemiaBritish Journal of Cancer, 1973
- Sideroblastic Anaemia and its Association with Leukaemia and Myelomatosis: A Report of Five CasesBritish Journal of Haematology, 1971
- Muramidase Studies in Philadelphia-Chromosome-Positive and Chromosome-Negative Chronic Granulocytic LeukemiaNew England Journal of Medicine, 1970
- THF EARLY STAGES OF ABSORPTION OF INJECTED HORSERADISH PEROXIDASE IN THE PROXIMAL TUBULES OF MOUSE KIDNEY: ULTRASTRUCTURAL CYTOCHEMISTRY BY A NEW TECHNIQUEJournal of Histochemistry & Cytochemistry, 1966
- Sideroblastic Anaemia: Is This a Malignancy?British Journal of Haematology, 1965
- Smoldering Acute LeukemiaNew England Journal of Medicine, 1963
- Monocytic leukemiaAmerican Journal Of Medicine, 1956
- CLINICAL AND PATHOLOGIC DIFFERENTIATION OF THE ACUTE LEUKEMIASArchives of Internal Medicine, 1934