Colony Growth of Human Leukemic Peripheral Blood Cells In Vitro

Abstract The colony-forming potential of peripheral white blood cells from patients with acute leukemia on normal human peripheral WBC feeder layers has been studied. White blood cells from 12 of 20 patients with acute granulocytic leukemia gave rise to large numbers of colonies, while WBC from eight patients with AGL, four patients with acute lymphocytic leukemia and three patients with acute stem cell leukemia gave rise to no colonies or only small numbers. Colonies formed from WBC of patients with AGL appear to go through a process of morphologic maturation to segmented granulocyte forms. Leukemic WBC will not serve as feeder layers in this system, but are not inhibitory in this respect. The significance of these findings is discussed.