Hairy cell leukemia: similarity of cell surface characteristics from multiple sites in three patients

Abstract

In three patients with hairy cell leukemia (HCL), the similarity of the surface ultrastructure of cells from multiple sites was studied. These sites included peripheral blood and spleen in one patient, and peripheral blood and bone marrow in two patients. The hairy cells from the peripheral blood of these patients were also compared with those of two other patients with HCL. The cells in all five cases had a surface comprised of exaggerated, broad-based ruffles with an occasional area of short microvilli. Although the shape of the ruffles and the number of microvilli varied slightly, there was a marked similarity for all organ sites sampled, and for suspensions or pieces of tissue prepared for viewing. The malignant cells in hairy cell leukemia, whether they are harvested from the peripheral blood, the bone marrow, or the spleen and whether they are viewed in a suspension or in whole tissue, have a unique cell surface ultrastructure which is easily confirmed by scanning electron microscopy.