[Principles and potentialities of the standardization of morphocytochemical diagnosis of acute leukemias].
Under the present conditions, the competitive capacity of a health care facility is provided by the high level and timeliness of diagnosis of disease. The diagnosis of the types of acute leukemia (AL) may be accomplished immunologically, by using a 33-marker panel and without consideration of the morphocytochemical parameters of blast cells. But such an approach complicates and prolongs the examination of patients with AL. Moreover, morphocytochemical data more exactly define the stages of blast cell differentiation than does the immunological phenotype. Their preparation methods are simple and cost-effective. Only M0, M6, and M7 forms of leukemia require compulsory blast cell phenotyping, particularly in the differential diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia and acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Search for new markers of leukemia cells, including lesions at the chromosomal or molecular levels, is under way. Some of them are only of theoretical value while other markers have been already used by hematologists to diagnose leukemia. Standardization in this essence is the self-assessment of a facility and reference comparison, which are based on the principles of its orientation to the patient, the adjusted system for controlling the quality of health care that is up to the world standards rather than the compliance with the state-regulated standard. The present paper discusses the ways of establishing the uniform rates and requirements for the morphocytochemical diagnosis of acute leukemias.