[PHA- and PWM-stimulation in acute leukaemia (author's transl)].

Peripheral blood cells from patients with acute leukaemia were stimulated in RPMI-medium with Phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) and/or Pokeweed-Mitogen (PWM). Samples of the cultures were taken at 3, 5 and 7 day intervals for cytological characterization. From 119 cultures from 65 patients 76 cultures from 47 patients could be analysed. Cultures stimulated with PHA and/or PWM showed in 43,4% a higher stimulation rate in comparison with cultures from normal persons. These findings are discussed in relation to the increased agar-colony growth growth of leukaemic cells after in vitro PHA-stimulation and transformation of blast cells.