Differences Between Lymphocytes of Leukemic and Non-Leukemic Patients with Respect to Morphologic Features, Motility, and Sensitivity to Guinea Pig Serum

Observations were made on viable lymphocytes in 22 specimens of bloodfrom 20 patients to test whether leukemic lymphocytes have distinctive characteristics. Special slide-chambers were used in this study. The features suggestive of leukemic lymphocytes were: large chromatin masses, prominentnucleoli, abnormal size of cells, flagella-like structures, reduced motility, andan increase in the sensitivity to inactivated guinea pig sera. An index summarizing these abnormal features selected correctly 9 blood specimens from 7 patients with chronic lymphocytic or lymphosarcoma-cell leukemia. Distinctiveabnormalities of the living lymphocytes were not found in the blood of 3 patients who were diagnosed lymphosarcoma and had normal lymphocyte countsand some lymphosarcoma-cell lymphocytes in stained blood films. Bloodlymphocytes from 8 patients with infectious mononucleosis, diabetes, hemochromatosis, and other diseases were correctly identified as non-leukemic. Thefindings obtained in this study indicate that viable leukemic lymphocytes arecharacterized by abnormal morphologic features, reduced motility, and increased sensitivity to heat-inactivated guinea pig sera.

Submitted on June 23, 1961 Accepted on August 4, 1961