title: Bone marrow biopsy in chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
abstract: In chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL), bone marrow biopsy (BM) sections show different infiltration patterns (nodular, interstitial, mixed diffuse) with a fairly homogeneous distribution when bilateral biopsies are examined. Sequential studies demonstrate that these patterns represent a dynamic process reflecting the degree of lymphocytic burden. Moreover, BM histopathology (diffuse vs non-diffuse) is a highly significant prognostic parameter. Although partly related to clinical stages, BM patterns have prognostic value on their own. A combined clinicopathologic staging system (integrating clinical stages and bone marrow histology) predicts the outcome of CLL patients more accurately than clinical stages alone.
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate School of Haematology Farreras Valentí, Hospital Clínico, Universidad de Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rozman
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Montserrat
mesh_terms: D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D015451:Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D013030:Spain