Prognostic Significance of Immunologic Phenotype in Hairy Cell Leukemia

• Published in: Blood Vol. 63; no. 5; pp. 1241 - 1244
• Main Authors: Jansen, Jan, Schuit, Henrica R.E., Hermans, Jo, Hijmans, Willy
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC Elsevier Inc 01.05.1984; The Americain Society of Hematology
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Biological and medical sciences; Cell Transformation, Neoplastic - immunology; Female; Hematologic and hematopoietic diseases; Humans; Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains - analysis; Immunoglobulin kappa-Chains - analysis; Immunoglobulin lambda-Chains - analysis; Leukemia, Hairy Cell - immunology; Leukemia, Hairy Cell - mortality; Leukemias. Malignant lymphomas. Malignant reticulosis. Myelofibrosis; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Netherlands; Phenotype; Prognosis; Receptors, Antigen, B-Cell - analysis; Netherlands; Ciliated cell; Phenotype; Immunology; Prognosis; Leukemia
• ISSN: 0006-4971; 1528-0020
• DOI: 10.1182/blood.V63.5.1241.1241

Hairy cell leukemia (HCL) is a usually chronic B cell lymphoproliferative disorder. To evaluate the prognostic significance of the various heavy and light chain determinants of the surface immunoglobulins (sIg), we analyzed the clinical data and immunologic phenotype of 64 patients with HCL. Sixty-two of the 64 patients showed sIg, which was invariably of only one light chain type (κ33, λ29). The actuarial survival of the cases expressing κ-light chains was significantly better than those with λ-light chains (p < 0.002). This difference persisted when only cases with γ or αγ heavy chains were considered. No differences between the κ and λ-subgroups were discovered with respect to parameters of clinical importance. The various heavy chain classes of sIg did not correlate significantly with the survival time. These results suggest that the immunologic phenotype, in particular the light chain type, may be a prognostic factor in patients with HCL.