I’m going to try Berci’s trick and live blog an early discussion with Nat and Kenna.
[10:19] You: So what is hcl?
[10:19] Natalie Balogh: Hairy cell leukemia
[10:20] You: Ya, but what is it?
[10:20] Kenna McMillan: A chronic leukemia of b cells?
[10:20] You: differentiated or undifferentiated?
[10:21] Natalie Balogh: I remember you said last week that it was well differentiated B lymphocytes
[10:23] Kenna McMillan: Wan’t there something about radiation exposure…like benzene?
[10:23] You: Yah, good!
[10:23] Natalie Balogh: It effects mostly men over 50
[10:24] You: Well…the median age range is 50, yah
10:29] You: do you know the clinical features?
[10:29] Natalie Balogh: Like weakness, splenomegaly?
[10:29] You: Yah
[10:29] You: Clinical features and incidences?
[10:30] Natalie Balogh: I think you mentioned that splenomegaly was like 90% incidence in HCL
[10:30] You: Good, yah
[10:31] Kenna McMillan: We know marrow fibrosis is a feature
[10:31] You: Clinical features, though…like weakness
[10:32] Natalie Balogh: You said that due to the spleen a lot of pts feel full, bloated?
[10:32] You: Yes
[10:32] You: the incidence is about 25% with accompanying weight loss
[11:08] Natalie Balogh: do patients still have splenectomies performed?
[11:08] You: Sometimes, but usually it’s avoided if possible
[11:08] You: we also use interferon alpha MAB
[11:08] You: it’s known as rituximab
[11:09] You: It’s successful in 70% of the cases
[11:09] Natalie Balogh: wow..so it’s highy curable
[11:09] You: Very much so
[11:09] You: we use 2 CdA or DCF if treatment is needed most often
[11:10] You: But like I said, these are highly immunosuppressive
[11:10] Natalie Balogh: What are the cure rates with those drugs
[11:10] You: Mmm, about 10% of pt are resistant to both drugs, so have to take a different route
[11:11] You: usually with interferon alpha
[11:11] You: with pentostatin 60% achieve full remission
[11:12] You: 25 % achieve partial remission with DCF (pentostatin)
[11:13] You: with 2 CdA 90% achieve total remission
[11:13] Natalie Balogh: omg 90%?!?!?!
[11:13] You: Yah..so it is hightly curable
[11:13] You: Usually the remainder receive some long-term responsivness
[11:14] You: it’s rare that a person relapses or has resistance to 2 CdA
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