Recombinant interferon‐alpha‐2b treatment of hairy‐cell leukaemia: Experience with a low‐dose schedule

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Abstract
50 patients with hairy cell leukaemia (HCL) were treated with recombinant interferon (IFN) alpha‐2b 2.0 × 106 IU/m2 subcutaneously three times weekly to evaluate the efficacy of low‐dose IFN therapy in inducing and maintaining remission of the disease. At the time of this report 48 patients, of whom 22 were splenectomized, had been treated for at least 3 months and were considered evaluable for response. The median observation time on IFN‐alpha‐2b was 11 months (range 3 to 20). 4 cases with atypical disease (spongy lymphoid myelofibrosis) were also included. All patients responded to IFN. After 3 months 11/48 patients (23%) had achieved a partial remission (PR) with normalization of peripheral blood values. After 6 months 27/43 patients (63%) had achieved a favourable response; complete remission (CR) was recorded in 4 and PR in 23 patients. The proportion of patients with favourable responses (CR + PR) increased with the duration of therapy and after 12 months of therapy 23/28 (82 %) patients showed CR or PR, 9 patients (32 %) being in CR. Splenectomized patients disclosed a trend towards a more rapid response. It is concluded that IFN‐alpha‐2b is a highly effective first‐line therapy for HCL