title: Hematogones as an internal control in flow cytometric analysis of suspected acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
abstract: Hematogones are benign immature B cells that commonly populate the bone marrow of children. Their presence has been noted to interfere with the flow-cytometric analysis of cases of suspected acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) because their immunophenotype (positive for CD19, CD10, CD34, and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase) is similar to that of pre-B cell lymphoblasts. Here we report a case in which the presence of a discrete population of hematogones, characterized by low-intensity CD10 cell-surface staining compared with pre-B cell lymphoblasts, actually aided in the recognition of early relapsed ALL and disease progression over a 4-day period. We also review our experience with flow-cytometric immunophenotyping in pediatric cases of suspected leukemia to evaluate the frequency of this occurrence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: S O
authors.initials: SO
authors.lastname: Vargas
authors.forename: S L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Hasegawa
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Dorfman
mesh_terms: D018941:Antigens, CD19 / Q000378:metabolism; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D002648:Child; D005434:Flow Cytometry / Q000379:methods; D016650:Fluorescein-5-isothiocyanate; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D008297:Male; D015260:Neprilysin / Q000378:metabolism; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism; D011379:Prognosis; D012015:Reference Standards
chemical_list: D018941:Antigens, CD19; D015260:Neprilysin; D016650:Fluorescein-5-isothiocyanate