Sister chromatid exchanges in human bone marrow cells I. Control subjects and patients with leukaemia

Abstract

The number and position of sister chromatid exchanges (SCE) in bone marrow cells was determined in 8 haematologically healthy subjects, 4 patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML), 4 patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), 4 patients with refractory idiopathic sideroblastic anaemia (pre-leukaemia), and 1 patient with malignant histiocytosis. The number of SCE in haematologically healthy subjects varied from 3.9 to 6.0 per metaphase and in the leukaemia groups from 3.6 to 7.4 per metaphase, the incidence being lowest in a patient with CML in chronic phase and highest in a patient with CML in blastic crisis. One of the patients with AML, who had as few SCE (4.4) as the controls in the bone marrow cells, had a fourfold SCE score (15.0) in his cultured lymphocytes. Both in controls and in patients with leukaemia the exchanges were, in general, fewer than expected in E, F and G group chromosomes and more frequent than expected in chromosome 2 and the B group chromosomes. Thus, the incidence of SCE in bone marrow cells was lower than in cultured lymphocytes, and in most cases of CML and AML, did not seem to be altered.