Bone marrow examination in the diagnosis of acute and chronic leukemias.

This article presents a brief review of the morphologic and cytochemical features of acute and chronic leukemias, followed by a discussion about new techniques that can be applied to the diagnosis of leukemias. The four techniques described include immunophenotyping, DNA content and cell cycle analysis, cytogenetics, and molecular studies. The utility of these specialized techniques in establishing a diagnosis of leukemia and in predicting prognosis is presented.