Induction of Differentiation in a Case of Common Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

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Abstract
The majority (80 per cent) of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) have neither cell-surface immunoglobulin nor T-cell-associated surface antigens that would clearly identify the disease as having either a B-cell or a T-cell lineage.1 Two recent findings indicate that many such cases of "common" non-T,non-B ALL are neoplasms of early B cells. First of all, although the surface immunoglobulin seen on mature B cells is lacking in common ALL, detectable intracytoplasmic immunoglobulin is expressed in approximately 20 per cent of cases, usually as μ heavy chains but without light chains.2 Secondly, before effective expression of an immunoglobulin gene occurs, . . .