Radioresistant pseudo-colony formation in the PHA-leukocyte feeder colony assay.

In the PHA-leukocyte feeder colony assay--a fluid assay on top of an agar underlayer--colonies might not be the product of clonogenic cells but rather from aggregates, as was already shown for hairy cell leukemia (Leukemia Res. 11, 911 (1987)). To study the role of aggregation in this colony assay in other B-cell malignancies, we irradiated cells from B-chronic lymphocytic leukemia, B-non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and multiple myeloma. In nearly all cases, viable "colonies" were seen after irradiation, albeit in lower numbers. These data indicate that in the PHA-leukocyte feeder colony assay, a considerable percentage of colonies from a large variety of B-cell malignancies originate from aggregating rather than from proliferating cells.