Leroy Satchel Paige was the longtime Negro League star who eventually received his due in the majors. He reportedly got his nickname working as a baggage porter in Mobile, Ala., where he became a satchel tree by carrying several bags at once. Satchel, the man, was literally ageless.
The diagnosis of AML requires the identification of 20% or more leukemic blasts in the bone marrow. Further analysis then must separate AML from acute lymphoblastic leukemia by showing evidence for commitment to the myeloid lineage.
1 Five percent to 19% of the cells in the bone marrow are blasts. 2  There also may be changes to the white blood cells and platelets. 3  Refractory anemia with excess blasts may progress to acute myeloid leukemia (AML). 4  See the PDQ Adult Acute Myeloid Leukemia Treatment summary for more information.n a patient with a myelodysplastic syndrome, the blood stem cells (immature cells) do not become mature red blood cells, white blood cells, or platelets in the bone marrow. These immature blood cells, called blasts, do not work the way they should and either die in the bone marrow or soon after they go into the blood.