Effect of a transplantable leukemia on hematopoietic stem cells in AKR mice.

The number of colony-forming units-spleen (CFU-S) and colony-forming units-culture in the femoral marrow of mice bearing an AKR transplantable leukemia remained relatively unchanged up to the death of the host despite the almost complete displacement of the normal differentiated hematopoietic cells by infiltrating leukemia cells. The proliferative state of the CFU-S was not changed significantly by the presence of the leukemia cells as determined by using 5-fluorouracil as a proliferative probe. The implications of these findings are discussed with regard to possible control mechanisms governing the interaction of leukemia cells with normal marrow cells and their potential importance for cancer chemotherapy.