Improved detection of minimal acute myeloid leukemia cells by the use of the combined parameters of XE-2100 hematology analyzer

Abstract

Background: For the diagnosis and therapy of acute leukemia, it is important to detect a small number of leukemic cells precisely. Although several automated hematology analyzers that carry blast-detecting programs have been developed, they do not exert sufficient detection sensitivity to exceed the sensitivity of manual eye counting method. Methods: We constructed a new blast-detecting program by combining the numerical information acquired from five cytometric parameters presented by XE-2100. The sensitivity and specificity of this blast multi-scoring program were assessed in comparison with the Blasts flag program equipped originally in XE-2100. Results: The blast-detecting sensitivity was found to be highly improved in the blast multi-scoring program as compared with the Blasts flag program without much decreasing the specificity. A small number of leukemic myeloblasts was detected at the better sensitivity than the eye counting method in the clinical course of the patients with acute myeloid leukemia. Conclusions: The daily practical use of this blast multi-scoring program will surely contribute to sensitive, objective, and real-time evaluation of the control of acute myeloid leukemia with a low cost. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.