Immunophenotyping of peroxidase-negative acute leukaemias using immunoalkaline phosphatase (APAAP) method

Immunophenotyping of acute leukaemias has become an important diagnostic tool in haematology laboratories as it is now well recognised that the presence of certain surface markers has prognostic significance. In 1988, we experimented with the alkaline phosphatase anti-alkaline phosphatase (APAAP) method for immunophenotyping of leukaemic cells in our laboratory. 48 cases of peroxidase-negative acute leukaemias were studied. Our study showed that 2 peroxidase-negative cases carried myeloid surface markers, 44% were negative for the markers studied and 5% were unclassified due to technical problems. We concluded that the APAAP method is a useful technique for demonstrating cell markers in leukaemic cells as the reaction is reddish and usually intense. We failed to demonstrate surface markers in 44% of the cases probably because of the choice of a limited panel of monoclonal antibodies.