[Hairy cell leukemia: therapeutic approaches]

Hairy cell leukemia is a rare lymphoproliferative B disorder. It usually occurs in men older than 50 years. Until 1984, therapeutic approaches had been disappointing and most of the patients died from complications of cytopenia. The introduction of interferon and, more recently of purine analogues (pentostatine and 2-chlorodeoxyadenosine) improved outcome of this disease. Nevertheless, if complete remissions may be achieved sometimes with interferon and more frequently with purine analogues, none of these treatments seems able to remove hairy cells. So, therapeutic decision has to be made according to the efficacy and the potential adverse effects of these drugs.