In situ hybridization probes - Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia, also known as acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), is an acute form of leukemia or white blood cell cancer, characterized by the overproduction and accumulation of cancerous and immature white blood cells called lymphoblasts. They are leucocytes (white blood cells) whose development has blocked at an immature stage; these blasts are therefore unable to protect us from foreign bodies, which all the normal cells of our immune system do. In the absence of treatments, the blasts will proliferate, invade the bone marrow, and all other organs. We speak of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in the presence of more than 8% of blast cells, expressing B or T membrane molecules.

In people with ALL, lymphoblasts are overproduced in the bone marrow and multiply continuously, causing damage and death by inhibiting the production of normal cells (such as red and white blood cells and platelets) in the bone marrow and by infiltrating the organs.