title: T-prolymphocytic leukaemia with spontaneous remission.
abstract: T-prolymphocytic leukaemia (T-PLL) is a rare dis-order with a poor prognosis. A 69-year-old man was diagnosed as having a small-cell variant of T-PLL according to the French-American-British classification by haematological, immunological and ultrastructural studies, although the cells had a CD7- phenotype and no chromosomal abnormality. He had no symptoms or organomegaly. The number of his lymphocytes, 53.7 x 109/l at the time of diagnosis, gradually decreased without therapy, and he was in complete remission 39 months later. A rearranged band in the T-cell antigen receptor-beta gene, which was detected at the time of diagnosis, decreased or disappeared. This is the first report of a T-PLL case with spontaneous complete remission.
authors.affiliation: First Department of Internal Medicine, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Fukushima 960-1295, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shichishima
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kawaguchi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: MacHii
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Matsuoka
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ogawa
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Maruyama
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015333:Gene Rearrangement, beta-Chain T-Cell Antigen Receptor; D019674:Genes, T-Cell Receptor beta / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D015463:Leukemia, Prolymphocytic / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D009365:Neoplasm Regression, Spontaneous