Leukemias Flashcards
causes of leukocyte neoplasms or leukemia
damage to HSC ( red marrow)
- radiation
- chemotherapy
- chemical and rug exposure
- viral infections (HTLV, EBV)
- oncogene mutations
- secondary to other conditions
general characteristics of acute leukemia
- sudden onset
- rapid progression, esp. with no treatment
- immature cells involved; blasts
- all age groups
- 6 mos life expectancy if not treated
general characteristics of chronic leukemia
- slow, insidious onset
- asymptomatic
- slow progression
- mature cells involved
- common in adults, rare in children
myeloblasts vs lymphoblasts
- myelo: larger, numerous nucleoli, auer rods
- lympho: smaller, scant cytoplasm, indistinct nucleoli
precipitated peroxidase proteins
auer rods
type I vs type II myeloblasts
type I = no granules
type II = few to many azurophilic granules
promyelocytic leukemia
- very heavy granulation in promyelocytes
- may be some blasts present but promyelocytes are predom
microgranular variant PL
butterfly nuclei
may see very fine stippling or very fine ground glass granule appearanceo
myeloperoxidase
found in primary granules
stains granulocytes and monocytes
sudan black
cellular lipids in 1ry and 2ry granules; similar reactivity to MPO/MPX
stains granulocytes and monocytes
alpha-naphthyl acetate esterase stain (NSE)
non-specific esterase
high activty in monocytes/macs/histocytes
PAS
stains glycogen in cytoplasm
primarily stains lymphs, erythroblasts, megakaryocytes
these will differentiate between myeloid and lymphoid lineage
MPO/MPX, Sudan Black
pos for granulocytes and moncytes
this stains monocytes reddish/brown
NSE
dark staining in cells that are monoblastic in lineage
this shows block positivity
PAS
very strnog pos in lympphoblasts and diffuse pos rxn in erythroblasts and megs (staining is scattered around cell, not as intense)
lymphoid lineages CD
2,3,4,5,7,819,20,22
B cell CD
19,20,22
T cell CD
2,3,4,5,7,8
TdT
terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase
- DNA polymerase in stem cells, early lymph cells
- seen in ALL (pos in both B and T cell)
- can be detected via monoclonal Abs through flow
karyotyping helps to…
diagnose
sub-classify
monitor residual disease
prognosis
molecular genetics to differentiate blasts
karyotyping at molecular level
helps to show disease progression, accurate prognosis, predict response to therapy
detection of mutations, gene arrangements using PCR
what is the difference between lymphomas and leukemias
leukemia = PB and BM involvement
lymphoma = PB, BM, and lymph node (tumor)
how do we classify B cell and T cell leukemias
B cell = recurrent genetic abnormalities or NOS (no specific gene abnormalities)
T cell = no further classification
B-cell lymphoblastic leukemia/lymphoma
- small blasts: scant blue cytoplasm with condensed chromatin
- large blasts: moderate light blue to grey cytoplasm, may have vacuolation with dispersed chromatin
- typical = anemia, infections, fever, organomegaly, bone pain
- WBC count variable with neutropenia