Enzymes of purine metabolism and membrane phenotype in malignant cells of some leukemia patients.

Lymphocytes from patients with chronic lymphatic leukemia, acute lymphoblastic leukemia and acute myeloid leukemia have been characterized by the activity of two enzymes involved in purine metabolism--adenosine deaminase and purine nucleoside phosphorylase and by the analysis of surface marker expression. The data obtained suggest that the activity of enzymes of purine metabolism can be used as a complementary diagnostic marker to conventional cell surface characteristics for the classification of lymphoproliferative diseases, especially in the case of T-acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The changes of the purine pathway enzymes may prove to be useful also as therapeutic determinants in hemopoietic neoplasia, particularly in the lymphoid malignancies.