Serum Soluble Interleukin-2 Receptor Levels in Hairy Cell Leukemia: Correlation with Clinical and Hematological Parameters and with α-Interferon Treatment

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Abstract
The soluble Interleukin-2 Receptor (sIL-2R) serum levels were assessed in 42 patients with Hairy-Cell Leukemia (HCL) at diagnosis and after α-Interferon therapy and correlated with spleen size, peripheral hematological values, hairy cell index (HCI) and clinical response. Serum sIL-2R levels were significantly increased in all HCL patients, particularly in those with a higher HCI (>0.50) and in non-splenectomized patients. Among the 26 HCL patients who were studied before and after 12 months of α-IFN treatment, 16 normalized the sIL-2R level and 10 did not. Our findings suggest that sIL-2R levels in HCL patients correlate with the splenic and bone marrow tumor burden as assessed by HCI. In addition patients with low levels of sIL-2R at diagnosis appear to have a better chance of achieving a good clinical response.