Acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Over the last two decades, great strides have been made in the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). This progress has been paralleled by a dvances in diagnosis. In addition to morphology and cytochemistry the diagn ostic and prognostic importance of immunophenotypic and genetic features is becoming increasingly apparent. This article reviews the clinical and morp hologic features, immunophenotypic classification, and karyotypic abnormali ties of ALL, and discusses how these aspects relate to the diagnosis of ALL .