[Use of alpha-interferon in the treatment of patients with hairy cell leukemia]

Hairy cell leukaemia is a lymphoproliferative disorder generally involving B lymphocytes and is usually presented by cytopenia. The standard initial therapy is splenectomy that often restores haematologic parameters to normal. Unfortunately, most of these patients manifest relapses with recurrent cytopenia weeks to years after splenectomy. Prognosis of these patients has been completely improved since 1984 when Quesada and his colleagues reported a 100 percent response rate in the first seven patients they treated with partially purified interferon. We report the clinical and immunologic results in 3 splenectomized patients with advanced hairy cell leukaemia treated with human lymphoblastoid alpha n-1 interferon. Two patients showed the leukaemic phase of the disease, and one patient presented progressive pancytopenia with serious infectious complications. The patients were subcutaneously administered 3 x 10(6) U of alpha interferon daily during 16 weeks. After 16 weeks of treatment the patients response was evaluated. They all achieved partial remission of the disease, with normalization of haematological parameters in peripheral blood, circulating hairy cells less than 5%, and reduction of hairy cells in the bone marrow by more than 50 percent in comparison with pretreatment levels. Disappearance of morphological hairy cells from peripheral blood correlated with reduction of B antigen cells, the patients continue to receive alpha interferon three times weekly and future follow-up of these patients will show if alpha interferon will confirm its effect on intermitent dose regimen.