Recombinant alpha-interferon (alpha-IFN) for progressive hairy-cell leukemia (HCL): a study in previously untreated nonsplenectomized patients.
Ten nonsplenectomized patients (5 males, 5 females) with hairy-cell leukemia were treated with recombinant alpha-IFN. The median age of patients was 54 years (32-76 years). The time between diagnosis and onset of treatment ranged from 1-120 months. Initially the patients received 5 x 10(6) I.U. daily by intramuscular or subcutaneous injections for 10 weeks. Thereafter the dose of IFN was reduced to 5 x 10(6) I.U. 3 x weekly and after 6 months to 5 x 10(6) I.U. 2 x weekly for at least 6 months. The median time of patient follow-up is 23 months (4-28 months). Three complete remissions were achieved after 3-24 months and five partial remissions after 4-18 months. One patient showed improvement after 3 months, and one patient died from cerebral hemorrhage after 5 weeks. In eight of ten patients peripheral blood cell counts normalized after a median of 7 months (1.5-11 months). A marked reduction in spleen size was observed in all seven patients who had splenomegaly at study entry. Two of three patients who interrupted therapy have relapsed after 2 and 6 months. We conclude that alpha-interferon is an effective method of first-line treatment in patients with HCL.
Schwarzinger
I
I
1st Department of Medicine, University of Vienna.
Bettelheim
P
P
Chott
A
A
Herold
C
C
Hinterberger
W
W
Köller
U
U
Kos
M
M
Neumann
E
E
Radaszkiewicz
T
T
Lechner
K
K
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001706:Biopsy; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007370:Interferon Type I / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007943:Leukemia, Hairy Cell / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000627:therapeutic use*
D007370:Interferon Type I; D011994:Recombinant Proteins