“Leukemic” pattern of in vitro growth in a patient with Down syndrome and transient myeloproliferative disorder |
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Authors: | Barry Mendelow,Selma Krawitz,Richard Cohn,Ren e Bernstein |
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Affiliation: | Barry Mendelow,Selma Krawitz,Richard Cohn,Renée Bernstein |
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Abstract: | Peripheral blood cells from a female infant with Down syndrome and over 60% circulating myeloblasts were cultured in soft agar. Growth was virtually restricted to cluster formation, and cluster-forming cells resided almost exclusively in the very light density fraction (SG < 1.062). Morphological assessment of clusters revealed no evidence of cellular differentiation beyond the blast cell stage. Despite receiving no specific chemotherapy, the peripheral blood normalized within 2 months, and there was no evidence of leukemia when the patient died aged 1 year from cardiac pathology. The findings indicate that caution should be exercised when assessing prognosis on the basis of in vitro growth characteristics in such patients. |
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Keywords: | leukemia Down syndrome cell culture cytogenetics |
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