Diagnostic and prognostic value of colony formation of hematopoietic progenitor cells in myeloid malignancies

Abstract

Hematopoietic progenitor cells are capable of forming colonies of mature blood cells in semisolid media in response to specific growth factors. Colony assays have been extensively used for many years to study normal and malignant hematopoiesis in vitro. In fact, these assays have provided an excellent research tool for investigating growth and differentiation of progenitor cells in response to positive and negative regulators of hematopoiesis. However, apart from their role in basic research, colony assays are also widely used in routine clinical practice in the diagnosis of various hematologic disorders, such as aplastic anemia, myelodysplastic syndromes and myeloproliferative disorders. This review summarizes our current knowledge on the diagnostic value and prognostic significance of the growth of progenitor cells in peripheral blood and bone marrow in patients with myeloid malignancies.

Dasatinib inhibits progenitor cell proliferation from polycythaemia vera

“…Whereas the Bcr‐Abl positive CML cells are a principle target of dasatinib, cells from normal donors should be much less affected. Supplementation of our assay with growth factors including EPO is a requirement to induce proliferation of haematopoietic progenitor cells in CML and in normal donors [3]. These experiments demonstrate a dose dependent inhibition of stimulated erythroid and myeloid progenitor cells from PV and CML patients by dasatinib.…”

Correlation of RAS-Pathway Mutations and Spontaneous Myeloid Colony Growth with Progression and Transformation in Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukemia—A Retrospective Analysis in 337 Patients

“…In one of our centers (Medical University of Vienna) the assessment of hematopoietic colony formation in vitro has been an integral part of the diagnostic work up in patients with suspected myeloid malignancies for many years [49]. CFU-GM growth was assessed in semisolid cultures without growth factors as previously described [19].…”

Pathogenesis, classification, and treatment of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS)

“…Reticulocyte counts in MDS are normal or (more frequently) are decreased [14]. Similarly, the numbers of circulating colony-forming progenitor cells (CFUs, BFU-E) are often below normal range reflecting insufficient blood cell production (Table 1) [15][16][17][18][19].…”

“…The numbers of CFUs can be determined in both the peripheral blood and bone marrow [15][16][17][18][19]. A decreased number of CFUs is confirmatory (but not specific) for the diagnosis MDS [15][16][17].…”