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Stages of Hairy Cell Leukemia

There is no standard staging system for hairy cell leukemia.

The process used to find out if cancer has spread to other parts of the body is called staging. There is no standard staging system for hairy cell leukemia.

In untreated hairy cell leukemia, some or all of the following conditions occur:

  • Hairy (leukemia) cells are found in the blood and bone marrow.
  • The number of red blood cells, white blood cells, or platelets may be lower than normal.
  • The spleen may be larger than normal.

Sometimes hairy cell leukemia does not respond to treatment or comes back after treatment.

Refractory hairy cell leukemia is cancer that does not respond to treatment.

Recurrent hairy cell leukemia is cancer that has recurred (come back) after it has been treated.

This information is not intended to replace the advice of a doctor. Navigating Care disclaims any liability for the decisions you make based on this information. This information was sourced and adapted from Adapted from the National Cancer Institute's Physician Data Query (PDQ®) Cancer Information Summaries on www.cancer.gov.

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