title: Absence of prolonged benefit of initial leukapheresis therapy for hairy cell leukemia.
abstract: Four patients with the leukemic phase of hairy cell leukemia were treated with leukapheresis. Two patients failed to respond, and the other two had only transient responses; hematologic improvement lasted one month in one case and four months in the second. The patient with a four-month response underwent a second series of leukapheresis resulting in a response lasting at least 8 months. Two of the four patients subsequently had an adequate trial of prolonged chlorambucil therapy and continued to have a clinical response. We conclude that leukapheresis has little to offer to the majority of hairy cell patients for the long-term management of post-splenectomy patients who develop the leukemic phase. However, an occasional patient can have a transient, and even, rarely, a prolonged response.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D006400:Hematocrit; D006801:Humans; D007937:Leukapheresis; D007943:Leukemia, Hairy Cell / Q000628:therapy*; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010976:Platelet Count; D013156:Splenectomy