Long-term remission in an elderly patient with mantle cell leukemia treated with low-dose cyclophosphamide

We present an elderly patient with mantle cell leukemia who was successfully treated with lowdose cyclophosphamide (CY). A 76-year-old female was diagnosed as mantle cell leukemia based on abnormal lymphocytosis and splenomegaly without lymphadenopathy. She was orally treated with 50 mg of CY daily and had continuous remission over 4 years. Rearrangements of BCL1 and immunoglobulin heavy chain genes in the peripheral blood lymphocytes were detected at diagnosis, but not 1 or 4 years later. Further studies are required to confirm the role of low-dose CY therapy for patients with mantle cell leukemia and lymphoma. Am. J. Hematol. 63:35-37, 2000