Skeletal changes in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia: correlation with the presence of the cALL antigen

We studied the occurrence of the radiolucent metaphyseal bands in pretreatment skeletal X-rays and the phenotype of leukemic cell in 66 children with non-T, non-B ALL. A striking correlation was found between the expression of the CALLA on the leukemic cell and the occurrence of the early metaphyseal bands. We speculate that the bands might reflect an ongoing anti-leukemic reaction which may have been in progress before the disease became clinically manifest and which is associated with relatively favorable prognosis after even a modest chemotherapy.