title: Blast crisis supervening on chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. A monoclonal progression of the disease as defined by cell surface markers.
abstract: Acute leukaemia is a rare event during the course of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL), and only a small fraction of such cases have been shown to be true acute lymphoblastic crises. 1 case is described where both small lymphocytes and proliferating lymphoblasts have the same monoclonal pattern as defined by direct immunofluorescence of membrane-bound immunoglobulins. Previous cases are reviewed and do not appear to be mere coincidence: acute blast crisis may represent a part of the natural history of CLL.
authors.affiliation: Service de Médecine, Centre Hospitalier et Universitaire--Angers, France.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ifrah
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Renier
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Saint-Andre
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gardais
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hurez
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Boasson
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001752:Blast Crisis; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006801:Humans; D007621:Karyotyping; D007945:Leukemia, Lymphoid / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male