title: Alpha interferon in T helper phenotype chronic lymphocytic leukemia: a report of three cases.
abstract: Three patients affected by T helper chronic lymphocytic leukemia were treated with low dose interferon alpha-2b (3 MU/m2 3 times weekly). The disease presented different pathologic expressions with diffuse skin lesions in one patient, a mild clinical course and a prolymphocytic variant with aggressive features, respectively, in the other two cases. A consistent response was observed within 3-6 weeks; by that time a reduction of blood and marrow lymphocytosis in the three patients and a regression of the cutaneous lesions were documented. Therefore, it should be emphasized that the use of alpha IFN, whose effectiveness on cutaneous T cell lymphomas has been already demonstrated, may represent an active agent in the treatment of leukemic T helper phenotype chronic lymphocytic proliferations.
authors.affiliation: Chair of Hematology, University of Ferrara, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cuneo
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lanza
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Spanedda
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tomasi
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ferrari
authors.forename: G L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Castoldi
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007370:Interferon Type I / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015461:Leukemia, Prolymphocytic, T-Cell / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010641:Phenotype; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D006377:T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies; D007370:Interferon Type I; D011994:Recombinant Proteins