Factors influencing microculture of leukaemia cells

Abstract

THE culture of normal haemopoietic cells was accomplished¹ by obtaining colonies of granulocytic and monocytic cells from mouse bone marrow grown in a semisolid agar system. The method was modified for human bone marrow and subsequent studies showed that leukaemia cells from the peripheral blood and marrow of patients with acute myelogenous leukaemia (AML) produced small colonies or clusters^1,2. Using this technique, serial sampling and morphological or biochemical studies of the growing cells was difficult. A liquid culture technique was then developed to study the growth of granulocytic or monocytic cells from normal bone marrow³. This in vitro diffusion chamber technique had the advantage of easy sampling but involved the use of large culture vessels. The method has subsequently been used to cultivate AML cells⁴.