title: Successful remission induction with deoxycoformycin in elderly patients with T-helper prolymphocytic leukaemia.
abstract: Two elderly patients with prolymphocytic leukaemia (PLL) of T helper phenotype were treated with the adenosine deaminase inhibitor--deoxycoformycin--and achieved remission. The first patient has remained in an unmaintained remission for over a year. The second patient, treated with a regime which produced less side effects, subsequently relapsed in skin and lymph nodes and died. In view of the rarity of this condition a multi-centre assessment of the effectiveness of deoxycoformycin is indicated. T-lymphocyte colony formation in both cases was found to be reduced. Co-culture of the patients' lymphocytes with nonadherent mononuclear cells from normal individuals also showed inhibition of T-colony formation indicating that lack of nutrients or accessory cells was not responsible for low T-colony forming capacity.
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003070:Coformycin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003114:Colony-Forming Units Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007945:Leukemia, Lymphoid / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000145:classification; D008297:Male; D015649:Pentostatin; D012263:Ribonucleosides / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006377:T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer / Q000473:pathology; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D012263:Ribonucleosides; D003070:Coformycin; D015649:Pentostatin