Growth of Leukemic Cells in Culture

Peripheral blood cells from three patients with leukemia in relapse increased in numbers in short-term suspension cultures. This increase was dependent on the presence of either feeder populations containing a high percentage of blast cells or conditioned medium derived from such populations. Aneuploid cells present in direct marrow preparations were also prevalent in the cultures after 10 days. The apparent specificity of the increase for leukemic populations may provide a new approach to the study of leukemic blast cells.