Growth of human acute myeloblastic leukemic (aml) cells in vitro.

Human normal and granulocytic leukemic progenitor cells produce colonies and clusters when cultured in the plasma clot system in vitro. The number of colonies formed and their cellular composition was comparable to that reported for the system (soft agar) usually used for these studies. The plasma clot system has the advantage of permitting in situ morphologic and cytochemical characterizaion of the cells within the colonies. A comparison was also made of the growth of leukemic cells in suspension cultures placed within conventional and modified Marbrook flasks. These studies demonstrated no advantage for the Marbrook system in cultures incubated for up to 7 days.