Basic principles
From www.haematologyetc.co.uk
Diagnosis of AML requires:
- At least 20% myeloblasts in marrow or blood
- Myeloid lineage should be established by multiparameter flow cytometry
- AML can still be diagnosed (independently of blast percentage in the presence of the following:
- CBF AML (cytogenetic abnormalities t([8;21], inv [16], or t[16;16]),
- NPM1 mutated AML
- Acute promyelocytic leukemia
- Where myeloid blasts also express T- or B-cell markers, or where separate myeloid and lymphoid blast populations are detected, the diagnosis is “mixed phenotype acute leukaemia” (MPAL) (if specific criteria are met)
- Where cases have >20% blasts, but lack any lineage-associated markers they are considered “acute undifferentiated leukaemia”