Influence of chemotherapy on some cytochemical reactions in patients with acute leukemia.

The influence of cytostatic drugs (L-asparaginase, vincristine, 6-mercaptopurine, amethopterine, prednisone) on the activity of alkaline and acid phosphatase, alpha-naphtol-acetate esterase, the content of glycogen and lipids in leukocytes of peripheral blood in patients with acute leukemia was investigated. Under the influence of anti-leukemic drugs some cytochemical reactions typically changed in different forms of acute leukemia showed tendency to normalization being sometimes more distinctive than leukocytosis or even than white blood picture. In patients who did not show any improvement during the treatment the disturbances of cytochemical reactions intensified or, sometimes, remaining unchanged. The repetition of examination of cytochemical reactions changing distinctively in the chemotherapy may simplify the treatment control by better estimation of its efficiency and give some prognostic hints.