Abstract

Hairy-cell leukaemia (HCL) has long been recognized as distinct from other chronic B-cell malignancies, but several questions remain unanswered. What is the HCL cell of origin? Why does HCL lack the hallmarks of most mature B-cell tumours (for example, chromosomal translocations and consistent lymph node involvement) and show unique features like 'hairy' morphology and bone-marrow fibrosis? Gene-expression profiling and other studies have recently provided new insights into HCL biology and have the potential to affect clinical practice.

Author affiliations

1. Institute of Haematology, University of Perugia, Italy.
2. Institute for Cell Biology Tumour Research, University of Duisburg-Essen, Medical School, Essen, Germany.
3. Institute of Haematology, University of Foggia, Italy.
4. Molecular Pathology Program, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncologicas (CNIO), Madrid, Spain.

Correspondence to: Enrico Tiacci^1,2 Email: enrico.tiacci@uni-essen.de

Correspondence to: Brunangelo Falini¹ Email: faliniem@unipg.it

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