Blood cell development; drawing shows the steps a blood stem cell goes through to become a red blood cell, platelet, or white blood cell. A myeloid stem cell becomes a red blood cell, a platelet, or a myeloblast, which then becomes a granulocyte (the types of granulocytes are eosinophils, basophils, and neutrophils). A lymphoid stem cell becomes a lymphoblast and then becomes a B-lymphocyte, T-lymphocyte, or natural killer cell.

Figure 1. Blood cell development. Different blood and immune cell lineages, including T and B lymphocytes, differentiate from a common blood stem cell.

From: Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Treatment (PDQ®)

Cover of PDQ Cancer Information Summaries
PDQ Cancer Information Summaries [Internet].
Bethesda (MD): National Cancer Institute (US); 2002-.

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