Granulopoietic studies in acute lymphocytic leukemia of children

Summary Studies have been carried out on the levels of serum and urine colony stimulating activity (CSA) and peripheral blood and bone marrow colony forming cell numbers in children with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) during various phases of their disease. These studies have suggested that serum and urine levels of colony stimulating factor are reduced during the initial or relapse phase of the disease compared to levels found during remission. It has also been found that the number of bone marrow colony forming cells is reduced in relapse or before treatment and elevated during remission while the number of peripheral blood colony forming cells is increased during relapse or before treatment and normal during remission. It has also been shown that mixing of serum or leukemic cells with normal human bone marrow cells inhibits colony formation.Supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute (1R01CA11305-5 and CA05058-10), American Cancer Society, Colorado Division, Maytag Memorial Grant and Public Health Service Research Grant CA12247 from the National Cancer Institute.