Cells from most cases of acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML) proliferate in vitro in response to one or more colony-stimulating factor (CSF). Previous studies have suggested that some AML cells can produce their own CSFs, but the frequency of this phenomenon is unclear. In this study, Northern blot hybridization was used to detect mRNA transcripts for granulocyte-monocyte CSF (GM-CSF), granulocyte-CSF (G-CSF), and macrophage-CSF (M-CSF) in 22 randomly selected cases of AML. Ten cases expressed one CSF transcript (generally M-CSF), one case expressed two CSF transcripts, and six cases expressed all three. The expression of CSF transcripts did not significantly correlate with the French-American-British classification, with the possible exception that four of the five cases expressing all three CSF mRNAs were FAB M1. Six cases had autonomous growth of clonogenic cells in agar, and all six cases expressed one or more type of CSF transcript. None of the five evaluated cases lacking all three CSF transcripts had autonomous growth. However, there were many cases in which CSF transcripts were present and no autonomous growth was observed. In response to exogenously added human recombinant CSFs, 11 of 18 cases proliferated in response to GM-CSF, 8 of 18 cases in response to G-CSF, and 0 of 10 cases in response to M-CSF. Response to a CSF was not significantly correlated with the presence or absence of CSF transcripts, particularly for M-CSF. These results show that CSF transcripts are frequently detected in AML, although with a substantial degree of heterogeneity. It is possible that CSF production contributes to unregulated growth in some cases of AML.