The subject of cell death has recently become a focus of interest for researchers from different fields including haematology and oncology, due to the potential clinical significance of the detection and quantification of apoptosis in patients with malignancies, undergoing chemotherapy. A variety of flow cytometric methods for cell death evaluation have been reported, however no correlation between different techniques has been studied and no optimal method was recommended. In this report we compare results concerning apoptosis evaluation obtained by different flow cytometric techniques adopted in our laboratory and share our experience concerning the routine, clinical determination of the apoptotic process.

        Key words: apoptosis, flow cytometry, haematological malignancies.