CORRELATION OF TOTAL-BODY POTASSIUM AND LEUKEMIC-CELL MASS IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC LYMPHOCYTIC-LEUKEMIA

  • 1 January 1979
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 53  (4) , 594-603
Abstract
Total body leukemic mass in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) was measured by quantitation of total body K (TBK) with a whole-body counter. The predicted normal total body K (Kp) for each patient was calculated from an empirically derived relationship involving height, weight, age and sex. The absolute TBK and the relative excess of total body K (TBK/Kp) were related to the stage of disease. Patients in the early stages of CLL had lower TBK and TBK/Kp than patients in the late stages of disease. Both of these parameters increased with the successively advanced stages of the disease. The clinically monitored reduction of leukemic cell mass following therapy was accompanied by reductions in TBK and TBK/Kp. TBK/Kp is apparently a useful indicator of the total body leukemic mass. The results of these studies quantitatively validate the proposed clinical staging system for CLL. Quantitation of TBK by a whole-body counter is an accurate and noninvasive procedure and does not require administration of isotopes.