Varying involvement of peripheral granulocytes in the clonal abnormality - 7 in bone marrow cells in preleukemia secondary to treatment of other malignant tumors: cytogenetic results compared with results of flow cytometric DNA analysis and neutrophil chemotaxis.

DNA content of isolated peripheral granulocytes and mononuclear cells was determined by flow cytometry and the results correlated with neutrophil chemotaxis. in 10 patients with secondary preleukemia or overt acute leukemia and cytogenetic defects of chromosome no. 7 in bone marrow cells. Nine patients had a hypodiploid clone with a missing chromosome no. 7. one lacked the long arm of a chromosome no.7. The DNA content of granulocytes was normal in 5 of these cases and significantly reduced in 4 cases. In one patient. two populations of granulocytes were observed, one with a normal, the other with a reduced DNA content. In vitro chemotaxis of washed peripheral granulocytes was normal in 3 patients. reduced in 7 patients. A relationship was observed between the cytogenetic results from the bone marrow. the DNA content of peripheral granulocytes. and the chemotactic response. Thus. 4 patients with a high percentage of abnormal mitoses in the marrow had a decreased DNA content in granulocytes and a reduced chemotactic