Prolymphocytic leukemia
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Carlos A Lopez, M.D. [2] Maria Fernanda Villarreal, M.D. [3]
Overview
Prolymphocytic leukemia is a rare lymphoid leukemia, which account for only about 2% of all mature lymphoid leukemias. Prolymphocytic leukemias present like leukemia and like lymphomas, they start in the lymphocytes, but do not form solid tumors. Prolymphocytic leukemias are also considered lymphoproliferative disorders, which mean that lymphocytes are produced in large amounts.
Prolymphocytic leukemia is divided into two types according the kind of cell involved: B-cell prolymphocytic leukemia and T-cell prolymphocytic leukemia. Were thought to be a rare variation of chronic lymphocytic leukemia, but are now considered a distinct disease. It is usually classified as a kind of chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Although these 2 types of prolymphocytic leukemias share some of the same characteristics, the World Health Organization (WHO) classifies them as different types of lymphoid leukemias.[1]
Classification
For more details about each specific type of prolymphocytic leukemia, click on the links in blue in the algorithm below.
| Prolymphocytic leukemia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| B-cell prolymphocytic leukemia | T-cell prolymphocytic leukemia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Differentiating B-Prolymphocytic Leukemia from T-Prolymphocytic Leukemia
In order to distinguish B-prolymphocytic leukemia from T-prolymphocytic leukemia, see the table below.
| Characteristics | B-PLL | T-PLL |
|---|---|---|
| Epidemiology |
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| Age |
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| Onset |
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| Clinical Features |
B symptoms
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| Diagnosis | Peripheral blood smear
Biomarkers
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Peripheral blood smear
Biomarkers
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References