[Concordant improvement of progressive systemic sclerosis and chronic myelogenous leukemia with interferon-alpha...

A 44-year-old woman with progressive systemic sclerosis (PSS) visited our clinic because of leukocytosis and thrombocytosis. She was diagnosed as having chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) with PSS, and was treated with interferon-alpha 2b (IFN-alpha) after pretreatment of hydroxyurea as a cytoreduction. Complete hematological remission was obtained two months later, and four months later minimal cytogenetic response was achieved by IFN-alpha. Her PSS symptoms were also improved to some extent as judged by Rodnan's total skin score, maximal opening distance of oral cavity, and range of motion of wrists. Our results suggest that IFN-alpha is probably beneficial not only for CML itself but also for PSS, too.