Spontaneous Remission Of Leukemic Lymphoproliferative Disease

Abstract

Spontaneous remission was observed in 4 of approximately 400 patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia or malignant lymphoma with leukemic manifestations. Findings prior to spontaneous remission in these patients included generalized lymphadenopathy and splenomegaly. In one patient, the remission followed an acute (presumably viral) infection. Relapse of disease after spontaneous remission, characterized by lymphadenopathy and tissue infiltration only, without lymphocytosis or bone marrow involvement, was seen in one patient with chronic lymphocytic leukemia and one with leukemic lymphosarcoma. Seven well-documented cases of spontaneous remission in leukemic lymphoproliferative disease were found in a survey of the literature. The patterns of normalization of the peripheral blood count seen in the pooled cases included both rapid declines of lymphocyte counts, consistent with active destruction of leukemic cells, and very slow decreases which suggested that the mechanism of remission was cessation of production of leukemic cells, with their subsequent disappearance at a rate consistent with their known long life span. Only one death from lymphoproliferative disease is recorded among these pooled cases.