c-myc and c-fos expression during interferon-alpha therapy for hairy cell
leukemia
P Lehn, F Sigaux, D Grausz, P Loiseau, S Castaigne, L Degos, G Flandrin and F Dautry
Low-dose interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) therapy is consistently effective in
the treatment of hairy cell leukemia (HCL). In two cases of resistance to
IFN-alpha administration, we diagnosed variant HCL, a form of HCL with
intermediate features between typical HCL and B cell prolymphocytic
leukemia. We tried to distinguish variant and typical hairy cells (HCs) by
Northern blot analysis of the oncogenes expressed in vivo. We report that
variant HCs contain c-myc transcripts in contrast to typical HCs, whereas
c-fos transcripts are detected in both cell types. We also report that the
mRNA levels of c-myc are not modified in variant HCs by IFN-alpha
treatment, whereas the level of c- fos mRNA is modulated in both types of
HCs. Our findings suggest that the failure to modulate c-myc expression in
vivo might indicate the limits of low-dose IFN-alpha therapy.
Volume 68,
Issue 4,
pp. 967-970,
10/01/1986
Copyright © 1986 by The American Society of Hematology
