HAIRY CELL LEUKEMIA

Overview and Facts

Hairy cell leukemia is an uncommon, slow-growing blood cancer. Your bone marrow produces an abnormally large number of B cells (lymphocytes), a kind of white blood cell (WBC) that fights infection.

These aberrant B cells are “hairy” below a microscope. Less healthy WBC, RBC, and platelets are produced as leukemia cells grow.

Furthermore, this condition is more frequent in older or middle-aged people. It is classified as a chronic condition since it may never totally vanish, even though therapy might result in remission for years.

Types and Symptoms

SYMPTOMS

Some individuals do not have symptoms, but a blood test for another condition or disease could inadvertently reveal hairy cell leukemia.

People with this illness may exhibit symptoms and signs that are shared by some other conditions and diseases, such as:

  • Fatigue
  • Recurring infections
  • Weight loss
  • An abdominal sense of fullness that makes eating more than a little at a time difficult.
  • Easy bruising
  • Weakness

Diagnosis & Medications

DIAGNOSIS

Your doctor may suggest the following tests to detect hairy cell leukemia:

  • Blood tests
  • Computerized tomography (CT) scan
  • Physical exam
  • Bone marrow biopsy

Moreover, analyzing this condition in your blood and bone marrow can reveal chemical and genetic alterations that help your doctor predict your prognosis and guide your treatment choices.

TREATMENT

It’s not usually essential to start therapy right away for hairy cell leukemia. You may delay treatment due to the slow progression of this cancer.

Your doctor will schedule frequent check-ups to monitor the development of this disease. If you have cancer symptoms, you may choose to get treated. Most persons with this condition need therapy.

It has no treatment. However, therapies may put this condition into remission for years.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is the initial line of defense against this kind of condition. It achieves full or partial remission in the majority of patients.

In this condition, two chemotherapeutic medications are used:

  • Cladribine
  • Pentostatin

Biological treatments

Biological treatment aims to make cancer cells immune-recognizable. In this condition, two kinds of biological treatments are used:

  • Rituximab
  • Interferon

If your illness returns or doesn’t respond to typical therapies, you may need immune system-targeting medications. Hairy cell leukemia clinical trials are testing new biological and targeted therapeutics.

Surgery

Splenectomy surgery may be recommended if your spleen ruptures or becomes enormous and painful. However, removing your spleen may generally restore average blood counts.

In rare cases, splenectomy may be beneficial in treating hairy cell leukemia. Any surgical procedure involves the risk of bleeding and infection.

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