Hairy cell leukemia (patient information)
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| Hairy cell leukemia (patient information) | |
| ICD-10 | C91.4 |
|---|---|
| ICD-9 | 202.4 |
| ICD-O: | 9940/3 |
| DiseasesDB | 5589 |
| MeSH | D007943 |
Editor-in-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S.,M.D. [1] Phone:617-632-7753; Associate Editor-In-Chief: Jinhui Wu, M.D.
Overview
Hairy cell leukemia is one type of B-cell lymphoma. It is a rare disease, about 1,000 people in the United States are diagnosed each year. Patients with Hairy cell leukemia tend to be older in general. The cells are small B lymphocytes with projections coming off them that give them a "hairy" appearance. They are always found in the bone marrow, spleen and circulating in the blood. Usual symptoms include unexplained weight loss, fever, night sweat and so on. Like other Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, biospy may be the best method for diagnosis. For Hairy cell leukemia is slow-growing, some patients may never need treatment. An enlarging spleen or dropping blood counts are the usual reasons to begin treatment. Treatments include radiation therapy, chemotherapy, bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cell transplantation and a combination of them.