Lymphoproliferative disorder Flashcards
What is a lymphoproliferative disorder?
A clonal neoplastic proliferation of lymphocytes
What are the lymphoprolif- erative disorders?
- CLL
- hairy cell leukemia
- LGL leukemia
- lymphoma (e.g., Hodgkin disease and NHL)
- plasma cell dyscrasias (e.g., MM and WM)
What is the most common form of leukemia in Western countries?
CLL comprises 30% of all cases of adult leukemia, with an annual incidence of 4 in 100,000 persons.
What is CLL?
- CLL = Chronic lymphocytic leukemia
- A neoplastic proliferation with accumulation of immune-incompetent lymphocytes within the bone marrow, peripheral blood, and lymphoid organs
What are the morphologic characteristics of CLL?
Small, mature lymphocytes with clumped chromatin and scant cytoplasm
What is the median age of onset of CLL?
65 years
What are the symptoms of CLL?
Up to 70% of persons with CLL are asymptomatic at diagnosis.
- Generalized lymphadenopathy, fever, night sweats, weight loss, easy fatigability, weakness, and increased bleeding are common complaints.
- Frequent infections and exaggerated responses to insect bites are occasionally noted.
How is the diagnosis of CLL made?
An increase in the absolute number (>5,000) of lymphocytes in the peripheral blood, which, on the peripheral smear, appear as small, mature lymphocytes.
Flow cytometry shows a monoclonal population that coexpresses CD19 and CD5.
Frequently, there is lymphadenopathy, splenomegaly, and bone marrow infiltration, making it difficult to distinguish CLL from its lymphomatous counterpart, SLL.
What is the staging system for CLL?
The Rai system is the one most commonly used:
- Stage 0—lymphocytosis alone
- Stage I—lymphocytosis with lymphadenopathy
- Stage II—lymphocytosis with splenomegaly or hepatomegaly
- Stage III—lymphocytosis with anemia
- Stage IV—lymphocytosis with anemia and thrombocytopenia
What are the median survival times for Stage 0?
15 years
What are the median survival times for Stage I?
9 years
What are the median survival times for Stage II?
5 years
What are the median survival times for Stage III?
2 years
What are the median survival times for Stage IV?
2 years
What specific hematologic complication can be associated with CLL?
AIHA (autoimmune hemolytic anemia)
What is the treatment for CLL?
- Observation if the patient is asymptomatic.
- Oral alkylating agents or fludarabine are commonly used in symptomatic patients.
What are the indications for the treatment for CLL?
Some indications include the presence of autoimmune hemolytic anemia, autoimmune thrombocytopenia, bulky lymphadenopathy, progressive hyperlym- phocytosis, and frequent bacterial infec- tions, but the exact time to initiate treatment is an area of much debate.
Chronic myleogenous leukemia
(Please see Chapter 6, “Myeloproliferative Diseases” section.)
What is hairy cell leukemia?
A fairly uncommon chronic lymphoprolif- erative disorder with a clonal neoplastic proliferation of a lymphocyte that is related to memory B cells, activated B cells, and preplasma cells
What is the morphologic appearance of hairy cell leukemia?
- A large lymphocyte with an eccentric nucleus (looks like a fried egg), with delicate, lacy chromatin and small nucleoli as well as abundant grayish-blue cytoplasm with fine irregular filamentous projections.
- These projections can be very hard to see on a peripheral smear.
What is the median age of onset of hairy cell leukemia?
50–55 years of age.
Not reported in children or teens
For hairy cell, what is the male to female ratio?
There is a male to female ratio of 4:1.
What ethnic group has a higher preponderance of hairy cell?
More common in Ashkenazi Jewish males
What are the presenting symptoms of hairy cell leukemia?
Weakness, weight loss, recent pyogenic infection, or symptoms attributable to splenomegaly
What are the physical findings of hairy cell leukemia?
Splenomegaly occurs in 80% of cases.
Rarely, patients have lymphadenopathy or hepatomegaly.
Do patients with hairy cell leukemia have an elevated WBC count?
Not usually; 80% of patients have leukopenia.
Pancytopenia is a common presentation.
What is unusual about the bone marrow aspirate?
Hairy cell leukemia
The bone marrow is often difficult to aspirate, resulting in a “dry tap.”
How is the diagnosis of hairy cell leukemia made?
- By the appropriate clinical scenario and by “hairy cells” seen on peripheral smear or bone marrow examination.
- A special stain called “TRAP” (tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase) is confirmatory, as is flow cytometric data.
What is the treatment for hairy cell leukemia?
- The nucleoside analogs cladribine and pentostatin are used with good response rates, which are durable for most patients.
- Because the hairy cells express CD20, the anti-CD20 antibody, rituximab, is also gaining some popularity.
What is an LGL?
On peripheral smear, an LGL appears as a large lymphocyte with abundant pale cytoplasm with prominent azurophilic granules.
What are the 2 types of LGL syndromes?
T cell and NK cell
How is the diagnosis of LGL syndrome made?
Increase in LGLs on peripheral smear, which, by flow cytometry, shows clonality with the appropriate phenotype (CD3, CD56)
What is the presentation of T-cell LGL?
Chronic, sometimes severe, neutropenia with frequent bacterial infections. Infil- tration of the spleen, bone marrow, and liver is not uncommon. Interestingly, 25% of cases are associated with rheumatoid arthritis, making it difficult to distinguish from Felty syndrome.
What is the presentation of NK-cell LGL?
- Usually, an acute clinical course involving fever and B symptoms (see the following text).
- Anemia and thrombocytopenia are more common than with T-cell LGL.
- Massive hepatosplenomegaly, lymph node involvement, and GI symptoms are common.
What is lymphoma?
A heterogeneous group of malignancies of lymphocytes that usually arise in lymph nodes but may originate in any organ
What are the 2 broad categories of lymphomas?
- Hodgkin disease
- NHL
How do NHL and Hodgkin disease differ in their natural history?
lymphoma
- NHL commonly presents with diffuse disease.
- Hodgkin disease presents more commonly with localized disease.