Spontaneous death of bone marrow and peripheral blood cells during remission of acute lymphoblastic leukemia in children

Programmed antileukemic chemotherapy is associated with prolonged cytotoxic effects on not only tumor cells, but on intact bone marrow and peripheral blood cells as well. The maximum spontaneous cell death is observed immediately after the end of therapy. It decreases with time after therapy, but does not reach the level observed in healthy subjects and does not depend on the type of therapy. The percentage of dead cells in peripheral blood directly correlates with the percentage of dead cells in the bone marrow. The processes of cell death in the peripheral blood and bone marrow are synchronous and parallel.