Monocyte chemotaxis in leukemia patients

Monocyte chemotaxis was studied in 35 patients with ALL, six with CLL, six with AML, and 10 with CML before beginning chemotherapy. Function was contrasted to age-matched control groups. Significant inhibition of chemotaxis was seen in patients with ALL (p less than 0.001) and CLL (p less than 0.01), whereas function in CML and AML patients was not significantly depressed. The deficient monocyte chemotaxis was not due merely to decreased percentages of peripheral blood monocytes. Thus, in addition to numerical deficiencies in monocyte numbers, qualitative deficiencies in monocyte function exist in patients with ALL and CLL.