Cytoenzymochemical effects of some antiblastic drugs and prediction of response to chemotherapy in acute leukemias.

Over 20 cytoenzymochemical tests were carried out in 152 patients with different types of acute leukemia to estimate the effects of some antiblastic drugs such as L-asparaginase, Purinethol, Methotrexate, Endoxan, Vinchristine, Cytosine Arabinoside a.o. The patients selected for the study were carefully examined before treatment at different moments during and/or at the end of the treatment. The effects of these drugs on the blast cells were mild when the cellular populations had a low rate of nucleic acid synthesis, high glycogenic score and high amounts of lipids or an important oxidative enzymatic activity. The enzymatic prediction tests: the acid phosphate deviation test and the succinic dehydrogenase inhibition test including the variant suggested by some of the authors - the latic dehydrogenase inhibition test - gave satisfactory results only in certain cases of acute leukemia.