Spontaneous Remission In Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

Abstract

A 63-year-old man is described with typical findings of chronic lymphocytic leukemia, diagnosed in 1952 when the patient was 48 years old. Treatment consisted of triethylenemelamine on two occasions in 1952 and 1953, splenectomy for a Combs’ positive hemolytic anemia in 1952 and cortisone for a period of 5 months between May and October 1953. There was a marked improvement of the anemia with beginning of cortisone therapy with little effect on other manifestations of his disease. However, 1 1/2 years after cessation of all therapy the leukocyte count began to decline, and the lymphadenopathy and hepatomegaly disappeared. He has remained asymptomatic and free of any clinical signs of chronic lymphocytic leukemia since 1956. There is no good temporal relationship between any form of therapy and subsequent remission, and although one cannot definitely exclude an effect from the therapy, it seems quite likely that this represents a spontaneous remission of chronic lymphocytic leukemia. (Permission to reproduce case report denied by publisher.)