Reproducibility of the French‐American‐British classification of acute Leukemia: The southwest oncology group experience

After initial French‐American‐British (FAB) diagnosis by a multiinstitutional Southwest Oncology Group panel, slides of acute leukemia cases were recirculated to panel members for second review. The reproducibility of the FAB classification is analyzed. The classification is reproducible in the 70% range in panel reviewer hands and allows remarkable reproducibility in the morphologic and cytochemical distinction of acute lymphoid leukemia (ALL) from acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The limitations of a morphologic and cytochemical classification of acute leukemia are discussed. A simplification of the FAB system, merging M1, M2, and M4 as M7, is proposed; this simplification improves the system's reproducibility.

[1]  F. Hayhoe,et al.  The cytochemical demonstration of lipids in blood and bone marrow cells. , 1953, The Journal of pathology and bacteriology.

[2]  Jacob Cohen.  A Coefficient of Agreement for Nominal Scales , 1960 .

[3]  H. Brincker,et al.  Cytomorphological classification of acute leukaemias. , 1972, Danish medical bulletin.

[4]  C. Li,et al.  ESTERASES IN HUMAN LEUKOCYTES , 1973, The journal of histochemistry and cytochemistry : official journal of the Histochemistry Society.

[5]  Fairley Gh,et al.  Acute leukemia in adults. , 1974 .

[6]  Nelson Da.  Cytomorphological diagnosis of the acute leukemias. , 1976 .

[7]  H. Gralnick,et al.  Proposals for the Classification of the Acute Leukaemias French‐American‐British (FAB) Co‐operative Group , 1976, British journal of haematology.

[8]  D. A. G. Galton,et al.  Classification of Acute Leukemia , 1977 .

[9]  D. Schuler,et al.  MORPHOLOGICAL DIAGNOSIS IN CHILDHOOD LEUKAEMIA , 1978, British journal of haematology.

[10]  J. Withey,et al.  Leukaemia Classification: a Study of the Accuracy of Diagnosis in 456 Patients , 1979, British journal of haematology.

[11]  T. Lister,et al.  Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in adults: clinicopathological correlations with the French-American-British (FAB) co-operative group classification. , 1979, European journal of cancer.

[12]  M. Coleman,et al.  Myeloblastic and lymphoblastic markers in acute undifferentiated leukemia and chronic myelogenous leukemia in blast crisis. , 1980, Cancer research.

[13]  H. Thaler,et al.  Morphological Classification, Response to Therapy, and Survival in 263 Adult Patients With Acute Nonlymphoblastic Leukemia , 1980 .

[14]  R. Collins,et al.  Acute leukemia of adults. Ultrastructural, cytochemical and histologic observations in 100 cases. , 1980, American journal of clinical pathology.

[15]  M. Viana,et al.  Subclassification of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia in Children: Analysis of the Reproducibility of Morphological Criteria and Prognostic Implications , 1980, British journal of haematology.

[16]  J. Rowley,et al.  "Microgranular" acute promyelocytic leukemia: a distinct clinical, ultrastructural, and cytogenetic entity. , 1980, Blood.

[17]  PROGNOSTIC SIGNIFICANCE OF LYMPHOBLAST MORPHOLOGY IN ACUTE LYMPHOBLASTIC LEUKAEMIA (ALL) IN CHILDHOOD , 1980, British journal of haematology.

[18]  N. Nicola,et al.  Lectin receptors on human blood and bone marrow cells and their use in cell separation. , 1980, Blood cells.

[19]  M. Boisseau,et al.  Ultrastructural cytochemical prospective study of adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia: Detection of peroxidase activity in patients failing to respond to treatment , 1981, Cancer.

[20]  M. Maheu,et al.  Immunologic diagnosis and monitoring of human acute leukemias: a review. , 1981, The American journal of pathology.

[21]  R. Savage,et al.  Morphology and cytochemistry of "microgranular" acute promyelocytic leukemia (FAB M3m). , 1981, American journal of clinical pathology.

[22]  H. Gralnick,et al.  The Morphological Classification of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia: Concordance among Observers and Clinical Correlations , 1981, British journal of haematology.

[23]  M. Greaves,et al.  Exploitation of monoclonal antibodies: a "who's who" of haemopoietic malignancy. , 1981, Blood cells.

[24]  C. Begg,et al.  Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group study of the cytochemistry of adult acute myeloid leukemia by correlation of subtypes with response and survival. , 1981, Cancer research.

[25]  Denis R. Miller,et al.  Prognostic Importance of Morphology (FAB Classification) in Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) , 1981, British journal of haematology.

[26]  C. Sultan,et al.  Distribution of 250 Cases of Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML) according to the FAB Classification and Response to Therapy , 1981, British journal of haematology.

[27]  J. Reiffers,et al.  Acute myeloblastic leukemia masquerading as null-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. , 1981, The New England journal of medicine.

[28]  J. Armitage,et al.  Diagnostic concurrence in the subclassification of adult acute leukemia using French‐American‐British criteria , 1982, Cancer.

[29]  R. Mertelsmann,et al.  Acute nonlymphoblastic leukemia. Prognostic factors in adults with long‐term follow‐up , 1982, Cancer.

[30]  Determination of ultrastructural peroxidases and immunologic membrane markers in the diagnosis of acute leukemias. , 1982 .

[31]  G. Tricot,et al.  Sudan Black B positivity in acute lymphoblastic leukaemia , 1982, British journal of haematology.

[32]  D. Arthur,et al.  Acute leukemia associated with the t(4;11) chromosome rearrangement: ultrastructural and immunologic characteristics. , 1982, Blood.

[33]  NON‐SPECIFICITY OF SUDAN BLACK B IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF ACUTE MYELOID LEUKAEMIA , 1983, British journal of haematology.

[34]  J. Perentesis,et al.  Biphenotypic leukemia: immunologic and morphologic evidence for a common lymphoid-myeloid progenitor in humans. , 1983, The Journal of pediatrics.

[35]  C. Pui,et al.  Acute leukaemia with mixed lymphoid and myeloid phenotype , 1984, British journal of haematology.