[Translocation t (8; 21) and acute granulocytic leukemia: interpretation of normal mitoses]

Cytological and cytogenetic studies of nine acute granulocytic leukemia with t (8; 21) translocation were performed from the same bone marrow and blood cell samples. It was shown that the chromosome abnormality was restricted to leukemic cells and that normal metaphases were erythroblast mitoses. Using cell cultures in which only or mainly leukemic cells were able to divide permits easier detection of chromosomal aberrations. These results led us to postulate an inhibitory role of leukemic cells on the division of normal granulocytic cells.