A Frail Hairy Cell Leukemia Patient Successfully Treated with Pegylated Interferon-α-2A

Hairy cell leukemia (HCL) treatment in elderly, frail subjects is still unsatisfactory, and interferons, old-fashioned therapies, can be effectively used in this subset of patients. Here, to the best of our knowledge, we report for the first time an old, frail HCL patient effectively and safely treated with pegylated interferon-alpha-2a in monotherapy as a first-line treatment. At diagnosis, the patient arrived in a life-threating condition due to severe neutropenia and splenomegaly with high risk of splenic rupture. However, splenectomy was proposed and refused by the patient; therefore, a therapy with pegylated interferon-alpha-2a was initiated. After six months of therapy, the patient displayed the disappearance of palpable splenomegaly and of peripheral hairy cells at morphological examination without any drug-related adverse event. Our case report supports the use of pegylated interferon-alpha-2a in monotherapy as an effective and safe alternative therapeutic option in frail, elderly patients not eligible for purine analogous or targeted therapies.

Automated summary

In this article, we report the effective and safe treatment of an old, frail hairy cell leukemia patient with pegylated interferon-alpha-2a as a first-line therapy. After six months of treatment, the patient showed the disappearance of splenomegaly and peripheral hairy cells without any drug-related adverse events.