Clinical implications of increased plasma levels of CD8 in patients with
hairy cell leukemia
AD Ho, M Grossman, L Trumper, A Pezzutto, H Pralle, S Boedewadt-Radzun, U Papendick, B God, T Zwingers and W Hunstein
Department of Internal Medicine V and Poliklinik, Heidelberg, FRG.
Plasma levels of soluble T-suppressor/cytotoxic antigen (sCD8) were
measured at diagnosis or before systemic treatment in 69 patients with
hairy cell leukemia (HCL). The 49 nonsplenectomized patients were
characterized by high concentrations of sCD8 antigen as compared with 17
controls (P less than .0001). The median sCD8 level in non- splenectomized
patients was 1,050 U/mL (range: 160 to 2,400 U/mL) and was significantly
higher (P less than .0001) than the median of 275 U/mL (range: 20 to 1,080
U/mL) in splenectomized patients. The relationship of sCD8 to clinical
response to subsequent interferon alpha (IFN alpha) treatment was analyzed.
Patients who showed subsequent hematologic response with normalization of
all blood counts had significantly lower levels of sCD8 concentrations at
diagnosis than those who did not (P = .0056). Furthermore, normalization of
sCD8 during IFN alpha treatment paralleled the achievement of normal counts
in peripheral blood, whereas soluble interleukin-2 receptor (sIL-2R) levels
remained high in most patients after 12 to 15 months of treatment. We
speculate that activation of suppressor/cytotoxic T cells might play a role
in myelosuppression, and its modulation during treatment with IFN alpha
correlates with normalization in peripheral blood counts.
Volume 75,
Issue 5,
pp. 1119-1124,
03/01/1990
Copyright © 1990 by The American Society of Hematology
