La leucemia mielomonocitica cronica (CMML)

Chronic myelomonocytic leukemia is a hematological neoplasm that develops as a result of clonal degeneration of hematopoietic stem cells. The first sign of the disease is an increase in the number of monocytes in the peripheral blood. In addition to cell proliferation dysplastic hematopoiesis is also usually present. The diagnosis of CMML is difficult due to the heterogeneity of the clinical hematological and morphological presentation and the lack of specific cytogenetic changes. In addition to distinguishing it from other hematological neoplasms reactive monocytosis must be ruled out before a diagnosis can be made. Due to their immunological function monocytes are increased in a variety of inflammatory and chronic processes as well as in tumor diseases. This research project investigated whether flow cytometric analysis of CD56 expression on monocytes in the presence of absolute monocytosis in peripheral blood is suitable for distinguishing reactive cell proliferation from clonal processes. The study was conducted in collaboration with Andrea Hauser MSc and Dr. Karl Schrattbauer.