POSITIVE CD17 MYELOID ANTIGEN IN ACUTE-LEUKEMIA EXPRESSING LYMPHOID ANTIGENS - ABNORMAL GENOMIC PROCESSES IN MULTIPHENOTYPIC LEUKEMIA OR NEW SUBTYPES WITHIN LYMPHOID LEUKEMIA

Specific morphological and histochemical changes serve to define stage s of differentiation during terminal myeloid maturation. The developme nt of the hybridoma technology has allowed generation of monoclonal an tibodies selectively reactive with antigenic determinants expressed in the hematopoietic system by myeloid cells at specific stages of diffe rentiation. Here, the characterization by one of these antibodies i.e. GO35 (CD17) which shows myeloid specificity, was reported on blastic cells from 30% of acute lymphoid leukemia cases investigated (8/25). T his monoclonal antibody may prove useful in the subclassification of a typical lymphoproliferative disorders including ''hybrid leukemias'' a nd serve as a possible prognostic factor for a therapy.