Activated natural killer cells from patients with acute myeloid leukemia are cytotoxic against autologous leukemic blasts in NOD/SCID mice.

Natural killer (NK) cells are implicated in the surveillance of hematological malignancies. They participate in the immune response against residual acute myeloid leukemia (AML) after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation with partial HLA class I disparity. However, the role of NK cells in autologous leukemia-specific immunity remains poorly understood.

Cell cycling stress in the monocyte line as a risk factor for progression of the aplastic anaemia/paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria syndrome to myelodysplastic syndrome.

Severe aplastic anaemia (SAA) causes permanent stem cell damage from which patients do not recover after treatment with antilymphocyte globulin (ALG). To produce peripheral blood values compatible with life, the few remaining stem and precursor cells are put under stress. We defined a 'stress factor' (SF) for various haematopoietic lines as the ratio of the corresponding peripheral blood (PB) value to the total colony number in short-term bone marrow cultures from 86 patients with different outcomes.

High incidence of transiently appearing complement-sensitive bone marrow precursor cells in patients with severe aplastic anemia--A possible role of high endogenous IL-2 in their suppression.

In a prospective long-term study on the incidence of paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH), 115 consecutive patients with severe aplastic anemia (SAA), 97 treated with antilymphocyte globulin (ALG) and 18 with bone marrow transplantation (BMT), were observed over a period of 4-18 years and tested for the presence of complement-sensitive hematopoietic precursor cells with the bone marrow (BM) sucrose test. Sixteen (14%) of the ALG-treated patients developed clinical signs of PNH between 0.5 and 8 years after treatment.