Leukemia is a malignant disease of the hematological system due to impaired maturation of hematopoietic cells. The leukemia cells are broadly classified into granulocytic and lymphocytic leukemia according to their origin. In addition to microscopic morphological differences, there are differences in the expression of surface antigens (a specific protein distributed on the cell surface) between the different types of leukemia cells.
Mixed leukemia is a mixed phenotype leukemia that expresses two or more hematopoietic series antigens simultaneously. The World Health Organization (WHO) refers to mixed leukemia as serially ambiguous acute leukemia, which has a low incidence and is clinically rare, accounting for no more than 4% of acute leukemias, with adults being the predominant group.
Dr. Xin Li of the Department of Hematology at Shanghai Renji Hospital South Hospital also contributed to this Q&A