Successful remission induction with deoxycoformycin in elderly patients with T-helper prolymphocytic leukaemia

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Abstract
Two elderly patients with prolymphocytic leukaemia (PLL) of T helper phenotype were treated with the adenosine deaminase inhibitor-deoxycoformycin-and achieved remission. The first patient has remained in an unmaintained remission for over a year. The second patient, treated with a regime which produced less side effects, subsequently relapsed in skin and lymph nodes and died. In view of the rarity of this condition a multi-centre assessment of the effectiveness of deoxycoformycin is indicated. T-lymphocyte colony formation in both cases was found to be reduced. Coculture of the patients'' lymphocytes with nonadherent mononuclear cells from normal individuals also showed inhibition of T-colony formation indicating that lack of nutrients or accessory cells was not responsible for low T-colony forming capacity.