Hairy cell leukemia overview

Overview
Hairy cell leukemia is a mature B cell neoplasm. It is usually classified as a sub-type of chronic lymphoid leukemia for convenience. It is uncommon, representing about 2% of all leukemias, or less than a total of 2000 new cases diagnosed each year in the North America and Western Europe combined.

Originally known as histiocytic leukemia, malignant reticulosis, or lymphoid myelofibrosis in publications dating back to the 1920s, this disease was formally named leukemic reticuloendotheliosis and its characterization significantly advanced by Bertha Bouroncle, M.D., and her colleagues at the Ohio State University College of Medicine in 1958. Its common name, which was coined in 1966, is derived from the appearance of the cells under a microscope.

Diagnosis
The diagnostic path may have begun with a simple test like a complete blood count, but this is not adequate to diagnose HCL. A CBC normally shows low counts for white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets in HCL patients, but if large numbers of hairy cells are in the blood stream, then normal or even high lymphocyte counts may be found.