Histopathologic verification of acute leukemia (AL) in a cohort of 463 post-Chernobyl patients from Belarus, Russia and Ukraine

McCarthy, Philip L.; Paltiel, Ora; Maslova, Elena; Kulikov, Sergei; Hahn, Theresa; Kopecky, Kenneth J.; Drozdova, Vera; Shmatina, Natalya; Tichonova, Ludmilla; Van Hoff, Jack; Gavrilova, Inna; Weinstein, Howard

doi:10.1016/j.leukres.2004.04.008

« Previous Next »Leukemia Research
Volume 28, Issue 12 , Pages 1273-1280, December 2004

Histopathologic verification of acute leukemia (AL) in a cohort of 463 post-Chernobyl patients from Belarus, Russia and Ukraine

Philip L. McCarthy Jr.
- Department of Medicine, Blood and Marrow Transplant Section, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY 14263, USA
- Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 716 845 8707; fax: +1 716 845 3272.
Ora Paltiel
- Department of Social Medicine, Hadassah Medical Organization, Keriyat Hadassah, P.O. Box 12000, Jerusalem 91120, Israel
Elena Maslova
- Data Coordination Office, International Consortium for Research on the Health Effects of Radiation, Russian Federation, Pogodinskaya 8, Building 2, First Floor, Moscow 12657, Russia
Sergei Kulikov
- Data Coordination Office, International Consortium for Research on the Health Effects of Radiation, Russian Federation, Pogodinskaya 8, Building 2, First Floor, Moscow 12657, Russia
- National Center for Hematology, Novozikovsky, pr. 4a, Moscow 125167, Russia
Theresa Hahn
- Department of Medicine, Blood and Marrow Transplant Section, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY 14263, USA
Kenneth J. Kopecky
- Southwest Oncology Group Statistical Center, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, 1100 Fairview Avenue North, M3-C102, P.O. Box 19024, Seattle, WA 98109-1024, USA
Vera Drozdova
- Institute of Haematology and Transfusiology, M. Berlinskogo Street, 12, Kiev 01060, Ukraine
Natalya Shmatina
- Haematology and Transplantology Center, Number 9 Hospital, Semashko Street, 8, Minsk 220089, Belarus
Ludmilla Tichonova
- Data Coordination Office, International Consortium for Research on the Health Effects of Radiation, Russian Federation, Pogodinskaya 8, Building 2, First Floor, Moscow 12657, Russia
Jack Van Hoff
- Department of Pediatrics, Yale University School of Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, 333 Cedar St. LMP 4087, P.O. Box 208064, New Haven, CT 06520-8064, USA
Inna Gavrilova
- Haematology and Transplantology Center, Number 9 Hospital, Semashko Street, 8, Minsk 220089, Belarus
Howard Weinstein
- Chief, Pediatric Hematology-Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital for Children, 55 Fruit St. Ellison 325, Boston, MA 02114-2696, USA

Received 2 October 2003; accepted 14 April 2004.

Abstract

Seven morphologists examined 382 slide and 82 non-slide, post-Chernobyl pediatric acute leukemia (AL) cases in radiation-exposed areas of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine; part of a case-control study by the International Consortium for Research on the Health Effects of Radiation. Among the slide cases, 99% were confirmed as AL: 92% acute lymphoid leukemia (ALL) and 86% acute myeloid leukemia (AMD demonstrating the utility of FAB classification for distinguishing ALL and AML. Among the non-slide cases, 79% were confirmed as AL: 84% ALL, and 71% AML. This study affirms AL diagnostic accuracy during a time of social upheaval in the former Soviet Union.

Abbreviations: AL, acute leukemia, ALL, acute lymphoid leukemia, ALLU, acute lymphoid leukemia, unclassified, ALU, acute leukemia, unclassified, AML, acute myeloid leukemia, AMLU, acute myeloid leukemia, unclassified, CML, chronic myeloid leukemia, FAB, French–American–British, FSU, former Soviet Union, GIMEMA, Gruppo Italiano Malattie Ematologiche dell’Adulto, ICRHER, International Consortium for Research on the Health Effects of Radiation, K, kappa statistic, L1, ALL FAB subtype L1, L2, ALL FAB subtype L2, L3, ALL FAB subtype L3, LDWG, Leukemia Diagnostic Working Group, M0, AML FAB subtype M0, Ml, AML FAB subtype Ml, M2, AML FAB subtype M2, M3, AML FAB subtype M3, M4, AML FAB subtype M4, M5, AML FAB subtype M5, M6, AML FAB subtype M6, M7, AML FAB subtype M7, MDS, myelodysplastic syndrome, Other, no diagnosis or not leukemia, Pa, percent actual agreement, Pc, percent based on chance, PAS, periodic Acid Schiff