Hairy cell leukemia and myelomatosis: chance association or clinical
manifestations of the same B-cell disease spectrum
D Catovesky, C Costello, D Loukopoulos, PR Fessas, JM Foxley, NE Traub, MJ Mills and M O'Brien
We describe three patients who had typical features of hairy cell leukemia
(HCL) and multiple myeloma (MM) at the same time. In two, both diagnoses
were made within a short period of time, and in the third, HCL had been
present for 2 yr before the appearance of a paraprotein, bone lesions, and
plasma-cell infiltrates established the diagnosis of MM. Although this
association has not been previously reported, cases of HCL with osteolytic
lesions or a paraprotein band have been described. The cases described may
represent clinical manifestations of closely related disorders arising from
divergent differentiation from a common B-cell precursor rather than a
chance association.
Volume 57,
Issue 4,
pp. 758-763,
04/01/1981
Copyright © 1981 by The American Society of Hematology
