Prognostic significance of morphologic and cytochemical markers in adult acute leukemia.

Survival times in 100 cases of acute leukemia (74 granulocytic, 14 lymphocytic, and 12 undifferentiated) were correlated with classic morphologic and cytochemical criteria. The 14 patients who had lymphocytic leukemia had significantly longer survival compared with the two other groups. Undifferentiated leukemias had a shorter survival time than granulocytic leukemias. Several subclasses of granulocytic leukemias were formed according to the presence or absence of Auer rods and the percentage of peroxidase-positive blasts. Neither of these two features significantly influenced the survival of these patients. In the lymphocytic leukemia group, PAS-positive and negative leukemias had similar survival expectancies. It is concluded that division into lymphocytic and nonlymphocytic leukemias is still helpful in predicting survival times of patients who have acute leukemia, but that further subclassification of these groups based on the presence or absence of Auer rods and the percentages of peroxidase-positive blasts is of no additional benefit.