Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: Recommendations for Diagnosis, Staging, and Response Criteria

doi:10.1059/0003-4819-110-3-236

Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: Recommendations for Diagnosis, Staging, and Response Criteria

Excerpt

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia is one of the commonest leukemias in humans. Recently, considerable progress has been made in our understanding of its biology and treatment. These advances require a careful re-evaluation of the disease's diagnostic criteria, staging, and response criteria. This paper updates our recommendations reported in 1981 (1). The issues addressed in this paper have recently been discussed in detail (2-4).

Definition and Diagnosis Chronic lymphocytic leukemia results from a neoplastic proliferation of lymphocytes and almost always involves a clonal expansion of B lymphocytes. Hallmarks of the disease include an absolute and sustained increase in the number of predominantly

This 100-word excerpt has been provided in the absence of an abstract.

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments: The authors thank Ma José Sánchez-Melero for help in preparation of the manuscript.

Article and Author Information

↵* This paper was prepared by members of the International Workshop on Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia at a meeting organized by the Post-graduate School of Hematology "Farreras Valenti," University of Barcelona, and held in Barcelona on 5 to 7 February 1988. Members of the committee were Jacques L. Binet, MD, Département d'Hématologie, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris (France); Daniel Catovsky, MD, MRC Leukemia Unit, Hammersmith Hospital, London (United Kingdom); Guillaume Dighiero, MD, PhD, Institut Pasteur, Paris (France); Robert P. Gale, MD, PhD, Division of Hematology-Oncology, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California; Emilio Montserrat, MD, Postgraduate School of Hematology, Hospital Clínic, Barcelona (Spain); Kanti R. Rai, MD, Long Island Jewish Medical Center, New Hyde Park, New York; Ciril Rozman, MD, Postgraduate School of Hematology, Hospital Clínic, Barcelona (Spain); and Arthur Sawitsky, MD, Long Island Jewish Medical Center, New Hyde Park, New York.
Grant Support: Partial support by the Hyland Division of Baxter Healthcare, Inc., Glendale, California; Bristol-Myers, S.A.E., Madrid, Spain; and Funk, S.A., Barcelona, Spain.
Requests for Reprints: Emilio Montserrat, MD, Postgraduate School of Hematology, Hospital Clinic, Villarroel 170, 08036 Barcelona, Spain; or Robert P. Gale, MD, Division of Hematology-Oncology, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA 80024.