The diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia is based on blood smear examination (blood test), completed by a bone marrow aspirate.
In order to precisely characterize the disease, several biological examinations are carried out on the bone marrow cells :
- Cytology and cytochemistry : they enabl to characterize the type of leukemia (lymphoblastic or myeloid), by a morphological and cytochemical examination of the leukemic cells.
- Immunophenotyping : it allows the identification of the surface markers of leukemia cells, which will confirm the “myeloid” diagnosis and serve as tools for the study of minimal residual disease, or MRD. However, the minimal residual disease analysis by this technique is not always possible.
- Cytogenetic examination : it studies abnormalities in the number and structure of chromosomes in leukemia cells
- Molecular biology: it allows to study DNA sequence abnormalities, in genes particularly involved in leukemogenesis mechanisms.
- The analysis of cerebrospinal fluid
All the performed examinations will help the pediatric hematologist to choose the best treatment for the identified pathology.
When all the diagnostic examinations have been carried out, the unused biological material can be stored for future research. Your child’s referring doctor will inform you in order to obtain your agreement, which will be formalized as a research consent.