CYTOGENETICALLY ABNORMAL CELL S IN VITRO IN ACUTE LEUKÆMIA

Twenty patients with previously identified direct cytogenetic abnormalities were examined for persistence of the abnormality in both direct bone-marrow preparations and in-vitro methylcellulose cultures. Of seven patients with persistent direct abnormalities, four had these same cytogenetic abnormalities identified in cells from culture. In three patients with acute myelocytic leukæmia or a variant, these abnormalities had been previously associated with leukæmic cell lines. Cytogenetic markers in the cultured cells indicate that leukæmic cells from some patients can be grown in vitro.