[Multidisciplinary diagnostics in acute leukemia].

Abstract

Establishing the exact diagnosis of patients suspected for acute leukemia is of paramount importance not only for instituting first-line treatment, but also for prognosticating the patient and determining the status of disease, e.g. in relation to minimal residual disease. In this overview the most recent developments regarding the methods for leukaemia diagnosis (cytology, histology, immunology, cytogenetics and molecular biology) are described and their respective merits and drawbacks are discussed. Special emphasis is given to the temporal relationship for application of the methods in the course of disease in these patients.