Bone Marrow Culture Studies in Refractory Cytopenia and ‘Smouldering Leukaemia’

Abstract

As an adjunct to conventional hematological and cytogenetic data, 22 cases of refractory cytopenia and 5 with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) were studied by bone marrow culture. Cultures from 11 such patients without an excess of marrow myeloblasts usually showed low, or undetectable, numbers of cells capable of giving rise to colonies of granulocytes and/or macrophages (CFUC) but near normal numbers of cluster forming cells and cells capable of forming erythroid colonies (CFUE). Those with similar blood pictures, but in whom the marrow contained a slight excess of myeloblasts (11 cases), showed a more profound defect in growth patterns; low or undetectable numbers of CFUC, clusters and CFUE, results similar to those found in acute myeloblastic leukemia, into which 3 of this group evolved. The patients with CMML gave comparatively normal CFUC, cluster and CFUE growth patterns.