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Updated: Aug 9, 2026
Flow Cytometry to Estimate Leukemia Stem Cells in Primary Acute Myeloid Leukemia and in Patient-derived-xenografts, at Diagnosis and Follow Up
Published on: March 26, 2018
Leukemic cells and aberrant phenotypes in acute leukemia patients: a flow cytometry analysis
D Vosková1, L Váleková, J Fedorová
1Clinic of Hematology and Transfusiology, Faculty Hospital of Martin and Jessenius Medical Faculty, Comenius University, Martin, Slovak Republic. Peter.Kubisz@jfmed.uniba.sk
Insights
Multiparametric flow cytometry (MFC) effectively identifies aberrant immunophenotypes in acute leukemia. This method reveals significant heterogeneity in leukemia-associated phenotypes among adult acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients.
Area of Science:
- Hematology
- Immunology
- Oncology
Background:
- Acute leukemia is characterized by clonal proliferation of immature hematopoietic cells.
- Immunophenotyping is crucial for accurate diagnosis and classification of acute leukemia.
- Understanding immunophenotypic heterogeneity aids in treatment strategies and prognosis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the heterogeneity of immunophenotype features in adult acute leukemia patients.
- To detect the presence and spectrum of leukemia-associated immunophenotypes (LAIPs).
- To assess the utility of multiparametric flow cytometry (MFC) in characterizing leukemic cell phenotypes.
Main Methods:
- Prospective analysis of blast cell immunophenotype in 44 adult acute leukemia patients.
- Utilized multiparametric flow cytometry (MFC) with a comprehensive panel of monoclonal antibodies.
- Classified patients according to the French-American-British (FAB) classification and immunophenotyping results.
Main Results:
- Leukemia-associated phenotypes were identified in 84.8% of AML patients and 72.7% of ALL patients.
- Over 61% of patients exhibited more than one aberrant immunophenotype.
- Linear infidelity was the most common aberrancy in both AML (64.3%) and ALL (37.5%) subgroups.
Conclusions:
- MFC is a valuable tool for identifying leukemic cells and characterizing immunophenotypic heterogeneity.
- Aberrant phenotypes are common in acute leukemia, highlighting the complexity of the disease.
- The study confirms the presence of LAIPs in a high percentage of adult acute leukemia cases, supporting MFC's diagnostic role.
Abstract:
The aim of this study was to evaluate the heterogeneity of immunophenotype features in acute leukemia patients and to detect the presence of leukemia-associated immunophenotypes. We prospectively investigated the phenotype of blast cells from 44 adult acute leukemia patients using a large panel of monoclonal antibodies by multiparametric flow cytometry. Thirty-three patients were classified as AML according to the FAB classification. Eleven patients were diagnosed as ALL (10 cases B-ALL, 1 case T-ALL) according to both FAB and immunnophenotyping. We found leukemia-associated phenotypes in 28 of 33 AML patients (84.8%) and in 8 of 11 ALL patients (72.7%). In 61.1% of patients more than one aberrant phenotype was observed. Linear infidelity was the most frequent aberrancy in both AML (64.3%) and ALL (37.5%) subgroups. The present study shows that MFC is a helpful method for sufficient identification of leukemic cells and for determination of blast cells immunophenotype heterogeneity. The double stain flow cytometry in our study revealed aberrant phenotypes in up to 81.8% patients.
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