Low doses of alpha 2B interferon in the treatment of hairy cell leukemia: results of treatment and mean follow-up at 18 months in 13 patients.

We treated 13 Hairy Cell Leukemia patients with rIFN a 2b. In case of complete/partial response, the patients were submitted to maintenance treatment, while, in case of minimal/no response, a second induction cycle was administered, followed by a maintenance one. The patients were followed, on an outpatients basis, for 18 months at least, obtaining a 100% overall response rate; one patient had complete response, 7 had partial response, and 5 only minimal response. Six patients (46%) relapsed an average of 13 months after the end of the treatment. The utility of a maintenance therapy is discussed.