Contribution of Flow Cytometry Immunophenotyping in Diagnostic of Acute and Chronic Leukemias

BACKGROUND: Today immunophenotyping by flow cytometry is an useful adjunct to cytomorphologyc analysis to correct diagnostic of leukemias. It provides objective and quantitative data allowing for a high level of sensitivity detection and better characterization of acute and chronic leukemias. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the contribution of the immunophenotyping by monoclonal antibodies (Mo.Ab.) in leukemic cells from patients with acute and chronic leukemias. METHODS: Analyzed 76 patients with leukemias before the treatment. The diagnostic of leukemias was based on the morphological and immunophenotyping analysis of leukemic cells from peripheral blood and bone morrow. The cytomorphologycal analysis was based on French - American - Britsh criteria (FAB classification) in blood and bone marrow films stain by leishmann and the immunophenotyping by flow cytometry with a panel of Mo.Ab. specific to acute leukemias as: CD1a, CD2, CD3, CD4, CD5, CD8, CD7, CD10, CD13, CD19, CD20, CD103, CD22, CD33, CD34, CD117, CD38, HLADR, TdT, anti-mieloperoxidase, anti-IgM and anti-kappa and lambda light chain. Further clinical and laboratory information as age, sex, presence of tumoral mass, lymphadenopathy, hepatosplenomegaly, hemoglobin determination, total and specific white cell count and cytomorphological analysis of blood film and bone morrow smear. RESULTS: Thirty four patients presented acute myeloid leukemia (AML), twenty acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), nineteen B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL), two T-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia and one case was hairy cell leukemia (HCL). Males were more frequently found in all types of leukemias. ALL were more observed in children (age < 15 years old) and in AML however were more frequently in adults patients. The chronic leukemias were presented in patients with 50 years old or more in all cases. The correlation between the immunophenotyping and clinical pathological profile of these leukemias demonstrated that ALL were more associated to lymphadenopathy, AML to hepatosplenomegaly, and CLL to lymphadenopathy and high count of white cells in peripheral blood. The thrombocytopenia and anemia were found in more cases of acute leukemia. CONCLUSION: This date suggest that today the immunophenotyping by flow cytometry is an important methodology to diagnostic and classification of leukemias.