Characteristic of marrow culture and clinical relevance in leukemia with 8/21 translocation.

Karyotypes and in vitro cultures of bone marrow cells from eleven patients with acute myelogenous leukemia M2 type were performed. 8/21 translocation was found in 5 patients. In all of them the cultures in vitro shared one characteristic, i.e., clusters were small and less in number. These patients could relatively easily obtain complete remission. The similarity of CFU-GM in patients with t (8; 21) may be another important biological phenotype.