Recent advances in understanding and managing hairy cell leukemia

Tobias Roider; Brunangelo Falini; Sascha Dietrich

doi:10.12688/f1000research.13265.1

Recent advances in understanding and managing hairy cell leukemia

F1000Res. 2018 Apr 27:7:F1000 Faculty Rev-509. doi: 10.12688/f1000research.13265.1. eCollection 2018.

Authors

Tobias Roider¹, Brunangelo Falini², Sascha Dietrich¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medicine V, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
² Institute of Hematology and Center for Hemato-Oncology Research (CREO), University and Hospital of Perugia, Perugia, Italy.

Abstract

Hairy cell leukemia is a rare B-cell malignancy that is characterized by an indolent course. It was initially described as a distinct entity in 1958. Before the establishment of modern treatment, median survival was only 4 years. Since then, major advances in the treatment and understanding of the biology and genomic landscape of hairy cell leukemia have been made. This review summarizes the present understanding of hairy cell leukemia with particular focus on the development of novel and targeted approaches to treatment.

Keywords: BRAF; hairy cell leukemia; vemurafenib.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

Sascha Dietrich was supported by a grant of the Hairy Cell Leukemia Foundation, the Heidelberg Research Centre for Molecular Medicine (HRCMM), and a BMBF Junior Group grant.