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Hairy cell leukemia - Symptom

Alternative Names

Leukemic reticuloendotheliosis; HCL; Leukemia - hairy cell

Symptoms:

Easy bruising or bleeding
Excessive sweating (especially at night)
Fatigue
Feeling full after eating only a small amount
Recurrent infections and fevers
Swollen lymph glands
Weakness
Weight loss

Signs and tests:

During a physical exam, the doctor may be able to feel a swollen spleen or liver. An abdominal CT scan may be done to evaluate this swelling.

A complete blood count usually shows low levels of white and red blood cells as well as platelets.

Blood tests and a bone marrow biopsy can detect hairy cells. Flow cytometry or a test called tartrate resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) can confirm the cancer diagnosis.

Bone marrow aspiration

Auer rods

Hairy cell leukemia - microscopic view

Formed elements of blood

Enlarged spleen

Reviewed last on: 9/6/2010
David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine; James R. Mason, MD, Oncologist, Director, Blood and Marrow Transplantation Program and Stem Cell Processing Lab, Scripps Clinic, Torrey Pines, California. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

References

Kantarjian H, O’Brien S. The chronic leukemias. In Goldman L, Ausiello D, eds. Cecil Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2007: chap 195.

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