Cell Proliferation in Leukemia During Relapse and Remission

Abstract
Samples of bone marrow from 20 patients with different types of leukemia were studied by autoradiography after in vitro incubation with tritiated thymidine and uridine. Thymidine uptake by leukemic blast cells was considerably less than that by normal blast cells, whereas uridine incorporation was greater in leukemic blast cells. The average DNA synthesis index of blast cells from patients with acute leukemia entering remission was almost double that of blast cells from patients with progressive disease. The data suggest that inhibition of cell proliferation by antileukemic agents may not be the major basis of remission in acute leukemia.