On the nature of the dynamic processes leading to blast cell dominance in chronic myelocytic leukemia

The blast crisis is a regularly observed transition between two forms of myelocytic leukemia, chronic and acute. It is generally believed that the two phases of the disease reflect cellular transformations of different nature. I have earlier proposed that the capacity of self-renewal in vivo is common to several cell compartments, and that feedback interactions adjust the relative probabilities of maturation and replication of the "committed" as well as the pluripotential cells. On this basis, I present mathematical models of chronic myelocytic leukemia, suggesting that both phases of the disease can arise and evolve solely from a progressive decline in a single clonal characteristic-the strength of interaction of hemopoietic cells with their inducers.