Images - Healthy and Leukemic Blood Cells

Healthy Cells

A marrow smear from a healthy patient. Dark-purple stained cells are lymphocytes, normal white blood cells.

A blood smear from a healthy patient, composed mostly of platelets.

Bone marrow from a healthy patient. Note the many types of cells that are present, along with the large white fat cells.

A 1918 Grey's Anatomy diagram of the cells that compose healthy bone marrow.

A high-power microscopic view of normal blood. The stained cells are two normal lymphoblasts and a neutrophil, both types of white blood cells.

Leukemic Cells

A marrow smear from an ALL patient. Dark-purple stained cells are cancerous lymphoblasts.

A blood smear from an ALL patient. Dark-purple stained cells are cancerous lymphoblasts.

Bone marrow from an ALL patient. The marrow is dominated by lymphoblasts, with few other cell types present. This is especially visible in the small number of fat cells.

Cerebrospinal fluid from an ALL patient. The purple-stained cells are cancerous lymphoblasts.

Cells from an L1 ALL patient. ALL is classified into three levels based on the size of the cancerous cells. L1 cells are small and uniform.

An alternate view of lymphoblasts from an L1 ALL patient.

Cells from an L2 ALL patient. L2 cells are large and varied.

Another example of cells from a patient with L2 ALL.

Cells from an L3 ALL patient. This type of leukemia is characterized by large and varied malignant cells with vacuoles.

A scanning electron microscope image of ALL, giving a "3D" look at malignant lymphoblasts.