[A case of B-chronic lymphocytic leukemia/prolymphocytic leukemia (CLL/PL)]

A 59-year-old man was admitted to our hospital on May 17, 1991 because of dizziness and a sense of abdominal fullness. Physical examination on admission showed splenomegaly without hepatomegaly or lymphadenopathy, and blood examination revealed normocytic anemia, thrombocytopenia and marked leukocytosis of 16,800/microliters with 87% lymphoid cells. Prolymphocytoid cells formed 28% of the lymphoid cells. Bone marrow aspiration revealed massive infiltration of lymphoid cells. Surface marker analysis showed that the lymphoid cells were positive for anti-HLA-DR, CD 5, CD19, CD20, CD21, SmIgM and SmIgD. The patient was diagnosed as having B-CLL/PL, according to the classification advocated by Melo in 1986, and initially treated with vindesine + prednisolone + pirarubicin (VP-THP). However, the prolymphocyte count increased, so we changed to VP-THP + cyclophosphamide (VEP-THP), and remission was obtained. CLL/PL is a rare disease in Japan but we obtained a good response to chemotherapy.