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Updated: Jul 18, 2026
Flow Cytometry to Estimate Leukemia Stem Cells in Primary Acute Myeloid Leukemia and in Patient-derived-xenografts, at Diagnosis and Follow Up
Published on: March 26, 2018
Detecting CD56+/NB84+/CD45- immunophenotype in the bone marrow of patients with metastatic neuroblastoma using flow
Fabio Bozzi1, Felicita Gambirasio, Roberto Luksch
1Department of Medical Oncology, Division of Pediatrics, "C" Istituto Nazionale per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori, Milan, Italy. fabio.bozzi@istitutotumori.mi.it
Background:
In order to identify neuroblastoma cells infiltrating the bone marrow, a triple-color flow-cytometric assay was developed combining CD56 and CD45 with the intracellular anti-NB84 specific antibody.
Materials And Methods:
The bilateral aspirates obtained from 27 consecutive children over the age of one year with stage 4 neuroblastoma were evaluated.
Results:
Neuroblastoma cells were detected in the bone marrow of 17/27 (63%) and 19/27 (70%) cases using cytomorphology and triple-color flow-cytometry, respectively. Using cytometry, the percentage of CD56+/NB84+/CD45-cells infiltrating the bone marrow ranged from 0.02% to 65%. Five out of eight patients without bone marrow involvement according to cytometry are in continuous complete remission, while only 3 out of 19 patients whose bone marrow gave positive results are still alive.
Conclusion:
By combining CD45 and CD56 with the specific antibody, NB84, directed against neuroblastoma cells, we developed a rapid and reliable cytometric assay that can be associated with conventional cytomorphological bone marrow evaluation to detect infiltrating neuroblastoma cells, especially in cases of dubious positivity.
