CD34 and leukemia: However, a later study showed, by sorting cells and in situ hybridization, that the t(15;17) translocation is present in both the CD34+, CD38− and CD34+, CD38+ cells from patients, suggesting that there is transformation of a cell within the more primitive CD34+, CD38− cell compartment and, therefore, there is lineage restriction of the leukemia cells [47].