Untreated Hairy Cell Leukemia
Progressive Hairy Cell Leukemia
Relapsed or Refractory Hairy Cell Leukemia

A link to a list of current clinical trials is included for each treatment section. For some types or stages of cancer, there may not be any trials listed. Check with your doctor for clinical trials that are not listed here but may be right for you.

If the patient's blood cell counts are not too low and there are no symptoms, treatment may not be needed and the patient is carefully watched for changes in his or her condition. If blood cell counts become too low or symptoms appear, initial treatment may include the following:

• Chemotherapy.
• Splenectomy.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's PDQ Cancer Clinical Trials Registry that are now accepting patients with untreated hairy cell leukemia ¹.

Treatment for progressive hairy cell leukemia may include the following:

• Chemotherapy.
• Biologic therapy.
• Splenectomy.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's PDQ Cancer Clinical Trials Registry that are now accepting patients with progressive hairy cell leukemia, initial treatment ².

Treatment of relapsed or refractory hairy cell leukemia may include the following:

• Chemotherapy.
• Biologic therapy.
• A clinical trial of stem cell transplant.
• A clinical trial of high-dose chemotherapy.
• A clinical trial of biologic therapy.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's PDQ Cancer Clinical Trials Registry that are now accepting patients with refractory hairy cell leukemia ³.

Glossary Terms

Treatment to boost or restore the ability of the immune system to fight cancer, infections, and other diseases. Also used to lessen certain side effects that may be caused by some cancer treatments. Agents used in biological therapy include monoclonal antibodies, growth factors, and vaccines. These agents may also have a direct antitumor effect. Also called immunotherapy, biotherapy, biological response modifier therapy, and BRM therapy.

A test to check the number of red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets in a sample of blood. Also called complete blood count and CBC.

Treatment with drugs that kill cancer cells.

A type of research study that tests how well new medical approaches work in people. These studies test new methods of screening, prevention, diagnosis, or treatment of a disease. Also called a clinical study.

A rare type of leukemia in which abnormal B-lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell) are present in the bone marrow, spleen, and peripheral blood. When viewed under a microscope, these cells appear to be covered with tiny hair-like projections.

An intensive drug treatment to kill cancer cells, but that also destroys the bone marrow and can cause other severe side effects. High-dose chemotherapy is usually followed by bone marrow or stem cell transplantation to rebuild the bone marrow.

Cancer that is growing, spreading, or getting worse.

Cancer that does not respond to treatment. The cancer may be resistant at the beginning of treatment or it may become resistant during treatment. Also called resistant cancer.

The return of signs and symptoms of cancer after a period of improvement.

An operation to remove the spleen.

The extent of a cancer in the body. Staging is usually based on the size of the tumor, whether lymph nodes contain cancer, and whether the cancer has spread from the original site to other parts of the body.

A method of replacing immature blood-forming cells that were destroyed by cancer treatment. The stem cells are given to the person after treatment to help the bone marrow recover and continue producing healthy blood cells.

An indication that a person has a condition or disease. Some examples of symptoms are headache, fever, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, and pain.