THE SPECTRUM OF CHRONIC LYMPHOPROLIFERATIVE DISORDERS IN HONG-KONG - A PROSPECTIVE-STUDY

We report the incidence of the chronic lymphoproliferative disorders e volving with leukaemia in Hong Kong, Our findings demonstrate that B c ell malignancies are significantly more frequent than mature T cell ne oplasms, a picture similar to that seen in Western countries but diffe rent from other Eastern countries, eg Japan, where T cell malignancies are more frequent, In contrast to the West, where chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) is the most common disorder, in Hong Kong there is a clear predominance of B cell lymphomas in leukaemic phase accounting f or two-thirds of the cases and particularly those displaying lymphopla smacytic features or with villous lymphocytes. CLL in Hong Kong has si milar clinical and laboratory features to the disease in patients from the West, Distinct disease categories, rare in the West such as the v ariant form of hairy cell leukaemia and T cell prolymphocytic leukaemi a, are also documented. It is unclear whether the differences in preva lence of disease subtypes between Hong Kong and the West relate to dif ferent genetic background or environmental factors determinant of the development or progression of the leukaemia. Further studies investiga ting the genetic/molecular lesions may help to clarify whether the aet iopathogenesis of the lymphoid disorders in Hong Kong is similar to th at of Western countries.