title: Hand mirror cell leukemia--immunologic and ultrastructural studies.
abstract: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) with hand mirror cell (HMC) variant was diagnosed in a 26-year-old black man in May 1978. Hemoglobin was 3.6 g/dl; the platelet count was 19.0 x 10(9)/l; leukocyte count was 8.4 x 10(9)/l with 40% blasts, 66% of which had HMC appearance. Cytochemical studies, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase level, and immunologic marker studies indicated a non-T/non-B lymphoblastic origin of the leukemic population. Electron microscopic studies confirmed the hand mirror appearance. Mitochondria were more numerous in these cells compared with other lymphoid cells. Cytogenetic studies showed a 46XY karyotype. Our studies confirmed the previous studies reported by Stass, et al of lymphoblastic origin of HMC leukemia. The patient responded to treatment with vincristine, prednisone and L-asparaginase and went into complete remission. It appears that this morphologic variant of ALL does exist and is not an artifact.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004254:DNA Nucleotidyltransferases / Q000378:metabolism; D006651:Histocytochemistry; D006801:Humans; D007945:Leukemia, Lymphoid / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008297:Male; D011947:Receptors, Antigen, B-Cell / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D011947:Receptors, Antigen, B-Cell; D004254:DNA Nucleotidyltransferases