Coexistent Hairy Cell Leukaemia and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia

• Published in: Leukemia & lymphoma Vol. 30; no. 1-2; pp. 203 - 209
• Main Authors: Brown, S. A., Phillips, Julia, Ahsan, G., Slater, N. G. P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Informa UK Ltd 01.06.1998
• Subjects: Aged; Gene Rearrangement, B-Lymphocyte, Heavy Chain; Humans; Immunohistochemistry; Leukemia, Hairy Cell - complications; Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell - complications; Male; Neoplasms, Second Primary
• ISSN: 1042-8194; 1029-2403
• DOI: 10.3109/10428199809050945

Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) and hairy cell leukaemia (HCL) are chronic B-cell lymphoproliferative disorders (B-LPDs) with distinct clinical, morphological and immunocy-tochemical features. Transformation of CLL into other B-LPDs (prolymphocytic leukaemia (PLL) and large cell lymphoma) is a well recognised phenomenon. One previous report has suggested that HCL may also arise by clonal evolution from CLL.[1] We report the case of a 75 year old man in whom a diagnosis of coexisting HCL was made seventeen years after an initial diagnosis of CLL. Immunoglobulin heavy chain rearrangement studies suggest that the two B-LPDs developed independently. A steady increase in the bone marrow HCL component at the expense of the CLL component was observed with time, suggesting that HCL may have a growth advantage over CLL.