Heterogeneity of cytoplasmic and nuclear shape of lymphocytes during progression of chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Peripheral blood from ten healthy subjects and from 44 patients at stages 0, I, II, III, IV of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), type B, was routinely smeared, fixed and stained by the May-Grunwald-Giemsa method. Fourier analysis of nuclear and cytoplasmic shape of smeared lymphocytes was carried out for the range 1-20 of harmonics (describing the pattern of contour folding in quantitative terms). In addition the roughness coefficients (describing the summarized measure of contour folding of an individual cell) were calculated and computer evaluated. Cytoplasmic contour shape of smeared lymphocytes in the 6-10 harmonic range discriminates well between lymphocytes of healthy subjects and those of each CLL stage. This discrimination was the result of richer folding of CLL lymphocytes. Nuclear contour shape of lymphocytes in the 6-10 harmonic range fails to discriminate between lymphocytes of healthy subjects and those of CLL, but it discriminates well between lymphocytes of various stages of CLL, with the exception of stages I/II and III/IV. When Fourier analysis was carried out on lymphocytes of combined stages I + II and III + IV, the shape differences were even more accentuated. We conclude that nuclear and cytoplasmic contour shape is a phenotypic feature of lymphocytes that is markedly modified in the course of CLL progression; this feature may be used as a new parameter in CLL.