Blast Cells and Myeloblasts Overview

In biology and in medicine, the suffix "-blast" refers to immature cells known as precursor cells or stem cells. You can have blasts that give rise to all kinds of different specialized cells. For example, neuroblasts give rise to nerve cells and angioblasts give rise to blood vessel cells. Just as nerve and fat cells develop from immature precursor cells, blood cells also come from immature blood-forming cells, or blasts, in the bone marrow. Blood cells are continually formed to replace those that have become old or worn out.

We all have blasts. In fact, we started out as a blast or, more precisely, a blastocyst (the jumble of cells that divide enough times to become an embryo). What is key to know is that the appearance of different types of blasts in unexpected areas of the body or the development of abnormal blasts can be an indicator of disease or cancer.

Bone Marrow Blast Cells

In healthy bone marrow, blood-forming cells known as hematopoietic stem cells develop into red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets through a process called hematopoiesis. This process occurs throughout your entire lifespan. The stem cell chooses its path of development into one of two cell lines, the lymphoid cell line or the myeloid cell line.

In the myeloid cell line, the term "blast cell" refers to myeloblasts or myeloid blasts. These are the very earliest and most immature cells of the myeloid cell line.

Myeloblasts give rise to white blood cells. This family of white blood cells includes neutrophils, eosinophils, basophils and monocytes, and macrophages.

Although the myeloid cell line accounts for around 85% of the cells in bone marrow, less than 5% should be comprised of blast cells. Anything more may be an indication of a serious disease.

In fact, the presence of these circulating myeloblasts can be an important indicator of such diseases as acute myelogenous leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes .

Myeloblast Disorders

In the case of acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), there is an overproduction of abnormal myeloblasts. These cells are unable to develop further into mature white blood cells.

AML is a type of cancer that goes by several other names, such as acute myelocytic leukemia, acute myelogenous leukemia, acute granulocytic leukemia, or acute non-lymphocytic leukemia. It is most common in older people. Most cases of AML develop from cells that would turn into white blood cells other than lymphocytes, however, some cases of AML develop in other types of blood-forming cells.

MDS is a group of disorders that affect the production of new blood cells in the bone marrow. In these diseases, the bone marrow produces abnormal blast cells that fail to mature properly and are unable to function.⁴ These abnormal blasts begin to take over the bone marrow and prevent the production of adequate numbers of other types of blood cells, such as platelets, red blood cells, and healthy white blood cells. In fact, production of leukemic blasts may get so out of hand that the immature cells spill out from the bone marrow into the circulation.

The presence of blast cells on a complete blood count (CBC) is therefore very suspicious for leukemia. Blast cells are not typically found in the circulating blood of healthy individuals

Journal of Cancer Research and Immuno-Oncology is an open access rapid peer reviewed journal in the field of cancer research. Journal announces papers for the upcoming issue. Interested can submit their manuscript through online portal.

Submit manuscript at https://www.longdom.org/submissions/cancer-research-immuno-oncology.html or send as an e-mail attachment to the Editorial Office at cancerresearch@clinicalres.org

Media contact:

Maegan Smith

Managing Editor

Journal of Cancer Research and Immuno-Oncology

Mail ID: cancerresearch@clinicalres.org

WhatsApp:  +1-504-608-2390