HAIRY-CELL LEUKEMIA IS INFREQUENT IN MEXICO AND HAS A GEOGRAPHIC-DISTRIBUTION

Considering that the prevalence of some hematologic malignancies may h ave a geographic distribution that could be related with its etiology, a group of 2,387 patients with acute leukemia (1,968 adults and 419 c hildren) was studied along a 5-year period in six different locations within Mexico. Twenty-seven patients (16 males and 11 females) with ha iry cell leukemia (HCL) were identified, The adjusted overall porporti on of HCL, after excluding data from centers reporting only adults, wa s 1.12% of all leukemia cases; this figure is lower than that reported in the United States or England, The proportion of adult leukemic pat ients with HCL was significantly higher in the northern region of the country-where there are more people devoted to farming and agricultura l activities-as compared with the central or southeastern regions (3.0 7 vs, 1.03% vs, 0%; P <0.05); possible explanations for these differen ces are briefly discussed. (C) 1996 Wiley Liss, Inc.