Abstract:

Objective To investigate the amounts of peripheral blood leukemic cells from acute leukemia (AL) patients determined by flow cytometry (FCM), in order to provide the reference for clinical efficiency and prognosis. MethodsA total of 71 patients with AL were enrolled, and peripheral blood leukemic cells were determined by FCM. The morphological analysis of bone marrow cells was performed. ResultsThe sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) relapse by peripheral blood minimal residual disease (MRD) determined by FCM were 96.6% and 33.3%, and those for the diagnosis of acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) relapse were 88.9% and 44.4%. In peripheral blood MRD negative group, there were 3 relapse cases of 12 patients(25.0%), and in peripheral blood MRD positive group, there were 44 relapse cases of 59 patients(74.6%). The relapse rate of peripheral blood MRD positive group was significantly higher than that of MRD negative group(P<0. 05). The relapse amounts of high MRD level group (≥10^-2) and low MRD level group (<10^-2) were 37 cases(97.4%)and 10 cases(47.6%), and the relapse rate of high MRD level group was significantly higher than that of low MRD level group (P<0.05). Conclusions The peripheral blood leukemic cells determined by FCM has significance for the diagnosis of AL relapse and its treatment.

Key words: Flow cytometry, Leukemic cell, Peripheral blood, Relapse