INDIVIDUALIZATION OF TREATMENT IS MANDATORY IN VERY OLD PATIENTS WITH HAIRY CELL LEUKEMIA

We report three very old male patients with hairy cell leukemia (HCL) diagnosed in a single center. First patient, 89 years old, had symptomatic cytopenia and achieved sustained complete remission after Cladribine treatment. Second patient, 89 years old, had asymptomatic disease with stable full blood counts during 3 years of follow up period in which watch-and-wait policy was adopted. Third patient, 82 years old, had two malignancies (HCL and presumably metastatic colorectal carcinoma) and his only treatment were occasional red blood cells (RBC) transfusions and symptomatic therapy. Our cases are illustrative examples that individualization of treatment is mandatory in very old patients with HCL.