High cell counts may be an indication of disease
Blast cells are immature cells known as precursor orstem cells.
Blasts give rise to all kinds of different specialized cells.
For example, neuroblasts give rise to nerve cells.
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Myeloblasts are immature white blood cells that develop in thebone marrow.
We all have blasts.
This article discusses blasts and myeloblasts, how they form, and the conditions that affect them.
The stem cell chooses its path of development into one of two cell lines, lymphoid ormyeloid.
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.
Anything more may be an indication of a serious disease.
These cells are unable to develop further into mature white blood cells.
It is most common in older people.
AML happens when blasts don’t mature and build up in your bone marrow.
Their presence on a complete blood count (CBC) test is very suspicious for leukemia.
Blast cells are also present in the bloodstream and the leukemia cells may have already spread to other organs.
Blasts in the blood are associated with cancers such as myelodysplastic syndromes and acute myelogenous leukemia.
These conditions occur when immature blasts build up in the bone marrow and spill into the bloodstream.
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