[Immunophenotyping of leukemia: overview].
Leukaemias that cannot be classified properly by morphological/cytochemical parameters may be diagnosed clearly by immunophenotyping. In this way, the neoplastic cells can be designated to either the myeloid or the lymphatic line of blood cells. Furthermore, myeloid leukaemias can be subtyped immunophenotypically in cases of type M0, M6, and M7, leukaemias, as well as in cases of mixed lineage or undifferentiated leukaemias. In patients with non-Hodgkin-lymphomas the cells can be characterized as being of B- or T-cell origin, and their activational or proliferative state can be assessed. Notably with acute lymphatic leukaemias, the prodigious therapeutical progress over the past years must be attributed to the refined definition of subtypes by immunophenotyping.