[Leukemization of hematosarcomas with primary involvement of the skin]

Clinicomorphological investigation of 81 patients with different types of skin hematosarcomas was conducted. Stage IV of disease was diagnosed in 53 patients, leukemic involvement developed in 18 of them (34%). Leukemic bone involvement was shown to be the main cause of death in myelosarcomas and lymphoblastic lymphomas. There were no significant differences in the frequency of leukemic bone marrow involvement with relation to the site and nature of primary skin involvement. A clinical course of disease was determined by a skin tumor histological type. Some morphological features of bone marrow lymphoblasts in leukemic bone marrow involvement in skin hematosarcomas (irregular cell shape, a moderate nuclear-cytoplasmic ratio, azurophilic granulation, fine-grained patterns of PAS-positive substance) distinguished them from lymphoblasts in leukemic bone marrow involvement in hematosarcomas with a primary focus of another site.