Serum soluble interleukin-2 receptor is associated with clinical and
pathologic disease status in hairy cell leukemia [see comments]
JM Richards, R Mick, JM Latta, K Daly, MJ Ratain, JW Vardiman and HM Golomb
Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, IL 60637.
Hairy cell leukemia is a chronic lymphoproliferative disorder of B-cell
lineage, whose malignant cells express the interleukin-2 (IL-2) receptor. A
soluble form of the IL-2 receptor is released by these cells in culture,
and the sera of patients with hairy cell leukemia contain elevated levels
of this soluble receptor. Four hundred twenty- seven serum samples from 101
patients were analyzed for soluble IL-2 receptor (sIL-2R). The clinical
status of patients appeared to be associated with the serum level of
sIL-2R. The hairy cell index (a measure of tumor cell burden) was
correlated with the square root of the serum sIL-2R level (r = .77).
Improved clinical status was associated with decreasing serum sIL-2R
levels, whereas disease relapse was associated with increasing levels.
Notably, every patient who responded to therapy had a decline in serum
sIL-2R level, and every patient with disease progression had an increase in
serum sIL-2R level. This phenomenon was observed for several different
treatments, including standard-dose interferon, low-dose interferon, and
deoxycoformycin. The predictive reliability of this test is currently being
prospectively evaluated.
Volume 76,
Issue 10,
pp. 1941-1945,
11/15/1990
Copyright © 1990 by The American Society of Hematology
