Leukemia m4 refers to acute granulocytic-monocytic leukemia in the FAB phenotype of acute myeloid leukemia.
Leukemia is a class of malignant tumors occurring in hematopoietic stem cells, in which leukocytes are stagnated at different stages of development to form leukemia cells due to uncontrolled proliferation, impaired differentiation, and blocked apoptosis. In hematopoietic tissues such as bone marrow, leukemia cells proliferate and accumulate in large numbers, inhibiting normal hematopoiesis and infiltrating other organs and tissues.
Leukemias can be classified as acute and chronic leukemias. Acute leukemias can be classified into acute lymphoblastic (ALL) and acute myeloid leukemias (AML) according to the cell line that is mainly involved.
AML is further classified into 8 types (FAB typing) according to the observation and counts of cytomorphology and histochemical staining of the patient’s bone marrow smear, M0~M7, of which M4 is acute granulocytic-monocytic leukemia, in which the primitive cells seen on the bone marrow smear accounted for more than 30% of the neutrophils (NECs), granulocytes ≥20% in all stages, and monocytes ≥20% in all stages.
The treatment and prognosis of different types of AML varies. In general, M3 has a good prognosis and is mostly curable if early death can be avoided. The prognosis is worse for AML that is elderly, high leukocyte, secondary, multidrug resistant, and requires multiple courses of chemotherapy for remission.
In case of leukemia M4 should go to regular hospitals for consultation and active treatment.