A comparison of membrane marker phenotypes in hairy-cell leukemia and phorbol-ester induced B-cll cells using monoclonal antibodies.

The neoplastic cells from 14 cases of hairy-cell leukemia were investigated in order to determine their membrane phenotype on the basis of their reactivity with a large panel of B-, T-, myeloid/monocytic- and non-lineage restricted monoclonal antibodies. The data were compared to those from monoclonal antibody studies on phorbol-ester (TPA) induced cells from 10 patients with B-type chronic lymphocytic leukemia. The study has so far revealed further evidence for the B-cell nature of hairy-cells leukemia and demonstrates a developmental link between the two cell types, suggesting that hairy-cells represent a more advanced differentiation stage along the B-cell lineage.