Large Granular Lymphocytic Leukemia Details

Expanded Description

Large Granular Lymphocytic Leukemia is a rare disease characterized by unexplained elevation in large granular lymphocytes in the blood.
These cells cause the immune system to create antibodies to one’s own cells and kill them. This results in anemia, low white blood cells and platelets

Prevalence

No prevalence information has been added yet.

Causes

Human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 ( HTLV-1 ) is thought to be one of the factors involved in developing T-LGL in some people.

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_T-lymphotropic_virus
http://www.moffitt.org/ccjroot/v5n1/article3.html

Disorder Symptoms

Many will find this illness when being checked for something else
It is sometimes referred to as “indolent” because it can be slow growing. Less common are more aggressive forms. Patients are prone to infections (mainly skin, respiratory). Fatigue with or without anemia. Large spleen.
Fibromyalgia – widespread joint pain – has been reported as an attendent secondary diagnosis.

We don't have any symptoms yet.

Diagnosis

No diagnosis information has been added yet.

Diagnostic Tests

Flow Cytometry, Bone Marrow Biopsy

We don't have any tests yet.

Disorder Treatments

Some may never need treatment. Majority will require treatment at some point. The first line of treatment is methotrexate and then cyclosporine. Other treatment options include cytoxan, CAMPATH, fludarabine and pentostatin.

A leading T-LGL expert, Dr. Loughran, published a paper Dec 29, 2010, “How I treat LGL leukemia.”Look near the end to see “Our therapeutic recommendation” and the following flow chart. http://bloodjournal.hematologylibrary.org/content/117/10/2764.full.pdf

We don't have any treatments yet.

Prognosis

No prognosis information has been added yet

Tips for Living with the Disorder

We don't have any tips yet.