Premature chromosome condensation in human leukemia

Premature chromosome condensation (PCC) has previously been observed in tissue culture and is believed to arise from asynchronous mitotic activity in multinucleated cells in which the affected nucleus is in interphase and at least one nucleus is in metaphase. Such cells have been noted following fusion induced by virus infection, spontaneously, and after treatment with cytochalasin B. The phenomenon has also been observed in malignant pleural effusions, but has not previously been described as a feature of hematologic disease. In this study, we report the observations of PCC in seven patients. Six of these patients had either acute myeloblastic leukemia or acute myelomonoblastic leukemia in association with the features of erythroleukemia, i.e., leukoerythroblastic reaction in the blood, and erythroid multinuclearity, “megaloblastoid” changes, and PAS-positive staining of erythroid precursor cells in the bone marrow. In all patients, erythroid multinuclearity has been noted. However, not all patients with erythroleukemia exhibit PCC. In this series, three additional patients have had similar bone marrow morphologic changes without PCC. The finding of PCC in erythroleukemia may have important implications as to etiology of this disorder.