[CD45 gating for flow cytometric analysis of acute leukemia].

Gating of leukemic cells for immunophenotyping by flow cytometry is currently set on two dimensional display of forward scatter (FSC) and side scatter (SSC). However, this gating method can not descriminate leukemic cells from contaminated normal cells (especially normal lymphocytes). Thus, in this paper, we used CD45 monoclonal antibody to detect leukemic cells (CD45dim cells) in conjunction with SSC parameter. This CD45-SSC gating revealed that this method is very useful in AML and ALL, especially leukemia with low percentage blasts. We recommend that this new gating method should be employed for more accurate immunophenotyping of acute leukemia.