American journal of hematology
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Comparative Study
Comparison of acute myeloid leukemia occurring de novo or preceded by a myelodysplastic stage: differences in cellular DNA content.
The DNA content of bone marrow cells in patients with acute leukemia preceded by a myelodysplastic stage (MDS-AML) was compared to that in patients with de novo AML. We studied granulocytes, lymphocytes, monocytes, and blasts/promyelocytes from Feulgen-stained bone marrow smears of 11 patients with de novo AML, ten patients with MDS-AML, and 13 apparently healthy controls. The mean amount of DNA per cell (DNA index; DI) in each cell population was determined using a digital video-based image-analyzing system (CAS-100). ⋯ Patients with MDS-AML had those of DI values similar to normal controls. In consequence, a significantly reduced mean DI was found in patients with de novo AML in blasts/promyelocytes (P < 0.01), and monocytes (P < 0.05) compared to both normal controls and MDS-AML. Together with data published separately, suggesting differences in granulocyte morphology, clonality, and HLA-DR expression, these data suggest biological differences between the two diseases.