Ph-negative T cells in a patient with chronic myelogenous leukemia for twenty-eight years.
The frequency of metaphases without a Philadelphia chromosome was determined in mitogen-stimulated cultures of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and purified T lymphocytes (93% CD2-positive) from a patient with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) for 28 years. The PBMC cultures contained few Ph-negative cells (8%), but they constituted 92% of the metaphases in T cell cultures, indicating few if any Ph-positive T cells in the patient's circulation. The results demonstrate that T cells derived from the leukemic clone may fail to replace the non-neoplastic population even when CML arises in childhood and the patient survives for many years. This raises questions concerning the normal role of the bone marrow as a source of T cells after infancy, and also whether Ph-positive lymphocytes may be at a disadvantage for growth.
Nowell
P C
PC
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia 19104-6082.
Finan
J B
JB
Moore
J S
JS
Jackson
L
L
Weiss
A
A
D000328:Adult; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002470:Cell Survival; D005260:Female; D015333:Gene Rearrangement, beta-Chain T-Cell Antigen Receptor; D006801:Humans; D015464:Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive / Q000473:pathology*; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / Q000235:genetics; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000473:pathology*; D013997:Time Factors
D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta