Antigenic phenotype of myelomonocytic progenitors (CFU-GM) in chronic myeloproliferative disorders.

The antigenic phenotype of myelomonocytic progenitors [colony-forming unit granulocyte-macrophage (CFU-GM)] from 33 patients with chronic myeloproliferative disorders was investigated using four cytotoxic monoclonal antibodies. Monoclonal antibodies S3-13, S8-6, and S16-144 which recognize normal hemopoietic progenitors of different lineages reacted with almost all CFU-GM. R1B-19 monoclonal antibody identified two subpopulations of myelomonocytic progenitors (type 1 and 2 CFU-GM), as reported previously in normal subjects. In 3 of 11 patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia, in 1 of 2 patients with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia, and in 2 of 4 patients with polycythemia vera, a higher proportion of the more immature CFU-GM (type 1) was detected in bone marrow cells. The more differentiated CFU-GM (type 2) is not detectable in normal peripheral blood. By contrast, in 14 of 15 chronic myelogenous leukemia patients, in 1 of 2 chronic myelomonocytic leukemia patients and in 3 of 8 patients with idiopathic myelofibrosis, it was present in high to very high proportions. It is clear from these findings that the antigens present on normal CFU-GM are expressed in chronic myeloproliferative disorders. The proportion and distribution of type 1 and 2 CFU-GM, on the other hand, are very different from those observed in the normal subjects.