By a colorimetric assay with dye (neutral red), the effects of recombinant human hemopoietic growth factors (rhG-CSF, rhGM-CSF, rhIL-3 and rhEPO) on the proliferation of leukemic blasts in vitro were investigated. Leukemic blasts were obtained from eight patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) (M1: two cases, M3: two cases, M4: four cases) and from four patients with acute lymphoid leukemia (ALL) (L2: four cases). It was shown that rhG-CSF, rhGM-CSF and rhIL-3 stimulated the blast proliferation in most cases of AML, although the degree and pattern of responses showed a striking variability in different patients. Moreover, rhGM-CSF and rhIL-3 also stimulated the leukemic blasts from some cases of ALL. No clear morphological modification providing evidence for terminal differentiation was observed when assessed by Wright stain. On the other hand, rhEPO did not have any stimulating effects on leukemic blasts in all cases. These results indicate the necessity of investigating the responses of leukemic blasts to hemopoietic growth factors in each patient prior to clinical use of such factors. For this assay, neutral red uptake method is useful because of its simplicity, rapidity, precision and convenience for handling a large volume of materials.