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Clonally expanded T cells in hairy cell leukemia patients are not leukemia specific

Leukemia volume 18, pages 176–178 (2004)Cite this article

TO THE EDITOR

Hairy cell leukemia (HCL) is a chronic mature B-cell leukemia characterized by splenomegaly, pancytopenia, monocytopenia and pronounced T-cell dysfunction. This T-cell dysfunction can result in autoimmune phenomena as well as severe morbidity caused by both bacterial and viral infectious complications. These T-cell abnormalities have been the subject of study by our group for many years. A remarkable finding was that most T cells of HCL patients lack the costimulatory signal CD28.1 Furthermore, in many HCL patients, oligoclonal T-cell populations were found with a very restricted and skewed TCRBV repertoire,2 a phenomenon found in more B-cell malignancies, but not as pronounced as in HCL. This points to a decreased CDR3 diversity and clonogenic expansions of some T cells. Several speculations can be made about the presence and function of the oligoclonal T-cell expansions in HCL patients. Weak expression of adhesion molecules on HCL cells might result in an inadequate immune response and clonal proliferation of T cells recognizing an HCL antigen. Clonal expansions might also originate from an immune response against a persistent systemic or viral infection, which could explain the sensitivity of HCL to interferon (IFN)-alpha. Finally, given the imbalanced immune system, autoreactive T-cell expansions might develop, directed against not only the tumor cells (Spaenij-Dekking, in press),3 but also against autologous cells of the immune system, for example, B cells, T cells, promonocytes or mature monocytes. Such autoreactivity could explain the pancytopenia with decreased amounts of normal T and B cells, the virtual absence of dendritic cells and monocytes.4

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Acknowledgements

We thank Maarten van de Keur and Arie van der Marel for their help with T-cell sorting and Professor Dr Jacques van Dongen for the kind gift of various TCRBV monoclonal antibodies used in this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Hematology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands

    E H A Spaenij-Dekking, E D Van der Meijden & J H F Falkenburg

  2. Department of Immunohematology and Blood Transfusion, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands

    E H A Spaenij-Dekking

  3. Department of Hematology, University Hospital Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    J C Kluin-Nelemans

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  1. E H A Spaenij-Dekking
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  2. E D Van der Meijden
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  3. J H F Falkenburg
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  4. J C Kluin-Nelemans
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Spaenij-Dekking, E., Van der Meijden, E., Falkenburg, J. et al. Clonally expanded T cells in hairy cell leukemia patients are not leukemia specific. Leukemia 18, 176–178 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.leu.2403149

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