C-MYC AND C-FOS EXPRESSION DURING INTERFERON-ALPHA THERAPY FOR HAIRY-CELL LEUKEMIA

  • 1 October 1986
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 68  (4) , 967-970
Abstract
Low-dose interferon-.alpha. (IFN-.alpha.) therapy is consistently effective in the treatment of hairy cell leukemia (HCL). In two cases of resistance to IFN-.alpha. administration, we diagnosed variant HCL, a form of HCL with intermediate features between typical HCL and B cell prolymphocytic leukemia. We tried to distinguish variant and typical hairy cells (HCs) by Northern blot analysis of the oncogenes expressed in vivo. We report that variant HCs contain c-myc transcripts in contrast to typical HCs, whereas c-fos transcripts are detected in both cell types. We also report that the mRNA levels of c-myc are not modified in variant HCs by IFN-.alpha. treatment, whereas the level of c-fos mRNA is modulated c-myc expression in vivo might indicate the limits of low-dose IFN-.alpha. therapy.