A 39-year-old coal merchant presented to his family practitioner with a seven month history of swelling of the left side of his face. He was referred to hospital where a left parotid mass was noted. All routine haematological and biochemical investigations were normal. A needle biopsy of the parotid mass, showed, on light microscopy using mercury based fixation, the presence of cells whose appe...

Iliac crest trephine biopsy specimens from 1 6 patients treated with recombinant a2-interferon (a-IFN) for hairy cell leukemia (HCL) were examined for reticulin and colIagen content. These data were compared with the hairy cell index (HCI). the proportion of hairy cells to the overall cellularity of the bone marrow. Specimens were studied immediately before a-IFN therapy. at 6-month intervals d...

Cells from hairy cell leukemia (HCL) and hairy cell leukemia variant (HCL-V) have a distinct immunophenotype which is of a mature but not terminally differentiated activated B-cell. Although some similarities exist between these two conditions like the expression of B-cell activation marker CD103, CD11c and IgG heavy chain expression, differences exists between these two diseases. HCL is positi...

Hairy cell leukemia and Sweet syndrome are both uncommon hematological diagnoses. We present a patient who was admitted with fevers, pancytopenia, pneumonia, and rash. Diagnostic bone marrow biopsy demonstrates Hairy cell Leukemia and skin biopsy demonstrates neutrophils infiltration consistent with Sweet syndrome. The patient was treated with purine analogs with resolution of the cytopenias, i...

Iliac crest trephine biopsy specimens from 16 patients treated with recombinant alpha 2-interferon (alpha-IFN) for hairy cell leukemia (HCL) were examined for reticulin and collagen content. These data were compared with the hairy cell index (HCl), the proportion of hairy cells to the overall cellularity of the bone marrow. Specimens were studied immediately before alpha-IFN therapy, at 6-month...

In this issue of Blood, Rosenberg et al provide a detailed retrospective description of the long-term outcome of young patients with a diagnosis of hairy cell leukemia treated with cladribine.

Treatment of hairy cell leukemia with 2-chlorodeoxyadenosine (2-CdA) induces complete remissions in 85% of patients. Complete remission has been defined as the absence of hairy cells in the bone marrow after routine morphologic examination. To determine if hairy cells could be detected in complete remission bone marrows using immunohistochemical techniques with antibodies L26 (CD20) and DBA.44,...