Acute Leukemia | Pathology Student

Mono vs. acute leukemia

Q. I’m a medical student, and I wonder if you have some good tips about how to tell tell apart mononucleosis from AML on a blood smear? (more…)

The Complete (but not obsessive) Hematopathology Guide – is here! Check out the cover at the left – click on it, and you’ll be taken to a page that describes the guide and has a place to order. (more…)

New study guide coming!

I’m putting the final touches on a new study guide!

This one is a complete hematopathology guide that covers everything you need to know for medical (and dental) boards. (more…)

What’s the best stain for Auer rods?

Q. What stain is used for demonstrating Auer rods in myeloblasts? Myeloperoxidase or PAS? (more…)

If chronic myeloid leukemia is a chronic leukemia, why does it have immature cells?

Q. If the chronic leukemias have lots of mature cells, and the acute leukemias have immature cells, then how come chronic myeloid leukemia has lots of immature cells? Seems like it belongs in the acute leukemia category! (more…)

Are chronic myeloproliferative disorders really leukemias?

Q. I was wondering what the difference was between labeling something as a “leukemia” vs labeling it as a “chronic myeloproliferative disorder.” (more…)

How do you diagnose ALL?

Q. I’m currently doing a research report on acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and I was wondering, are cytomorphology and cytochemistry important in the diagnosis of ALL? (more…)

Acute leukemia quiz

Another quiz – this time on acute leukemia. (more…)

Cytogenetics quiz

Many hematopoietic malignancies have characteristic cytogenetic changes, such as translocations or inversions. It’s important to know about these because they can be used for diagnosis in tough cases, and they often carry a prognostic significance. (more…)

Acute monocytic leukemia

Just as there are many different types of myeloid cells (neutrophils, red cells, monocytes, eosinophils, basophils), there are many different types of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Two types of AML are composed almost entirely of cells of the monocytic series: acute monoblastic leukemia and acute monocytic leukemia. In both of these types of AML, at least 80% of the leukemic cells are from the monocytic series (monoblasts, promonocytes, and monocytes). In acute monoblastic leukemia, most of these cells are monoblasts, and in acute monocytic leukemia, most of these cells are promonocytes. Promonocytes have a very characteristic appearance, as shown above. They have nuclei that show a delicate folding pattern, almost like a piece of tissue paper that has been crumpled a bit. If you had a case of acute leukemia and most of the cells looked like this, you would think about acute monocytic leukemia – and you’d get an NSE to prove it.