LARGE GRANULAR LYMPHOCYTE LEUKEMIA - A STUDY OF 9 CASES IN A CHINESE POPULATION

Large granular lymphocyte (LGL) leukemia is a neoplastic disorder of l ymphocytes that is characterized by the presence of prominent cytoplas mic granules, and involves the proliferation of at least two distinct cell types, T cells and natural killer (NK) cells, The authors report the clinical and pathologic features of 9 Chinese patients with LGL le ukemia, who represented 14% of 64 cases of chronic lymphoproliferative disorders diagnosed at their centers in 3 years, Three different grou ps could be defined on immunophenotypic and clinical grounds, The firs t group of 4 cases were CD2+CD3+CD4-CD8+. With the exception of a pedi atric case, these cases ran an indolent course that was similar to the T-cell LGL leukemia most common in Western patients, However, thrombo cytopenia and pure red cell aplasia were more common in the patients i n this study, which was similar to the experience in Japanese patients . The second group of two cases were CD2+CD3+CD4+CD8-, and appeared to have worse outcomes than the first group, The third group of 3 cases were CD2+CD3-CD4-CD8-CD56+. Although phenotypically similar to the NK- cell LGL leukemia reported in Western patients, these cases were clini cally more aggressive than their Western counterparts, This study is t he first to report comprehensively the different types of LGL leukemia s in Chinese patients, and provides useful information on the similari ties and differences of these disorders as compared to those cases in the West.