CLINICO-PATHOLOGICAL PRESENTATION AND THERAPEUTIC OPTIONS FOR HAIRY CELL LEUKEMIA

Objective: To look at clinical and hematological presentation as well as treatment outcome of patients withdiagnosis of Hairy Cell Leukemia (HCL) in our population.Methodology: All patients diagnosed with HCL by morphological and immunohistochemical methodspresenting to Medical Oncology Ward at Hayatabad Medical Complex, Peshawar since August 2008 wereincluded in the study.Results: Out of 7 patients diagnosed with HCL, 6 were male and 1 was female (M:F ratio 6:1). Medianage at diagnosis was 44 years. Fever, pallor, palpitations and fatigue were the commonest presentingcomplaints. Spleenomegaly was noted in all patients (100%). Pancytopenia was noted in all patients atpresentation. Five patients were treated with Interferon while 2 were treated with Cladribine. At 18 monthsof follow-up, one out five patients treated with IFN had relapse while both the patients treated withCladribine were in complete remission.Conclusion: Our study showed that HCL patients present at a younger age in our region but furtherstudies with larger sample size are required to confirm this. All patients showed a complete response toInterferon and Cladribine with all patients alive at 18 months of follow-up.