Delayed effect of antileukemic polychemotherapy on cell death and proliferation during remission of acute lymphoblastic leukemia in children.

The effect of programmed antileukemic drug therapy on cells of the tumor clone is not selective, and the drugs affect also intact bone marrow and peripheral blood cells. The cytotoxic effect of antitumor therapy is attained through triggering apoptosis and does not depend on the type of drug therapy. The treatment induces long-lasting changes in spontaneous cell death processes. The disturbances in the kinetics of cell death caused by drug therapy are compensated by changes in proliferative activity of bone marrow cells.