Enzyme alterations in leukemic cells.

Recently, much attention has been focused on various enzyme alterations found in leukemic cells. Most of the data generated thus far has involved the study of terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase, the purine pathway enzymes, and hexosaminidase and other lysosomal enzymes. Differences in both total enzyme activities and isoenzyme patterns have been found to occur among the various leukemia types and subtypes. These changes may prove to be useful aids in diagnosing, classifying, detecting subclinical recurrent or residual disease, and as therapeutic determinants in hematopoietic neoplasia, especially in the lymphoid malignancies.