Replication of an avian myxovirus in primary cultures of human leukemic cells.

Replication of a strain of fowl plague virus adapted to human myeloblasts was studied in leukemia cell cultures derived from the venous blood of 20 adult patients suffering from acute leukemia (15 acute myelogenous, 4 acute lymphatic, and 1 chronic myelogenous leukemia in acute blastic crisis). Virus multiplication was observed in the cultures of 18 patients. Sufficient adaptation of the virus and a high number of nucleoli per leukemic cell seemed important for good virus replication. In acute myelogenous leukemia, hemadsorption, coupled with staining for peroxidase, revealed that virus replication indeed took place in leukemic cells, a prerequisite for immunotherapy of leukemia patients with viral oncolysates.