[Prognostic value of bone marrow examinations on day 8 and day 17 of the first induction therapy cycle in acute myeloid leukemia].

Bone marrow examination yields valuable diagnostic information for evaluation of treatment efficacy in acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) patients. However, the ideal timing of this procedure remains to be defined. Usually the first follow-up examination is performed on day 17 of the induction course. Since an earlier analysis might be helpful in deciding on the subsequent treatment strategy, we explored whether an examination on day 8 might be equivalent, in particular in terms of quality of the specimen, as compared with that on day 17. In 10 AML patients undergoing the same induction treatment, bone marrow aspirates were examined prospectively at diagnosis (day 0), immediately after termination (day 8) and on day 17 of the first treatment course. We found that the number of cells not classifiable due to artifacts, as well as the otherwise non-evaluable cells, did not differ significantly in aspirates obtained on day 8 as compared with those on day 17. The number of leukemic cells decreased significantly from day 0 to day 8, whereas no change was noted between days 8 and 17. We conclude that a marrow examination on day 8 is not more prone to misinterpretation due to artifacts than our standard examination on day 17. Thus, an early marrow analysis immediately after completion of the first induction cycle might be a helpful tool in evaluating course of AML.