Histological study of the bone marrow in chronic granulocytic leukaemia in blast transformation. II. Bone marrow fibre content before and after autografting.

A serial study of the extent of bone marrow (BM) fibrosis was carried out in 14 patients with chronic granulocytic leukaemia (CGL) in blast transformation (BT) who received intensive treatment followed by autografts to restore marrow haemopoiesis. Some degree of marrow fibrosis (MF) was identified in 13 of the 14 patients when blast transformation was diagnosed. A transient increase in the amount of marrow fibrosis was observed in most cases immediately following intensive chemoradiotherapy or chemotherapy alone but this had regressed by 4-6 weeks when chronic phase haemopoiesis was established in the marrow. The presence of marrow fibrosis when blast transformation was diagnosed did not appear to impair the effectiveness of the autograft.