Sister chromatid exchange analysis in acute leukemia patients

This study was made to show the effects of acute leukemia (AL) and cytostatic drug therapy on chromosomes by sister chromatid exchange (SCE) analysis. Metaphase preparations from peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) of 15 patients [13 with acute nonlymphocytic leukemia (ANLL) and one with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), and one with Hodgkin's disease (HD)] were harvested before and after treatment. Mean SCE frequency in the cells was 12.07 +/- 0.15 before therapy and was 14.04 +/- 0.32 after therapy as compared with 7.87 +/- 0.60 in controls. SCE values of patients with AL were significantly higher than those of controls, and this was more conspicuous in the cells that had undergone anticancer treatment.