Leukapheresis Therapy of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

The effects of repeated leukapheresiswith the IBM Blood Cell Separator wereassessed in 13 patients with chroniclymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Five patients had from 14 to 25 leukapheresesat intervals ranging from 7 to 33 days.The median total number of lymphocytes removed was 18.0 x 10¹¹ (range11.9 x 10¹¹-26.6 x 10¹¹). Two of thesepatients had a decrease in lymphocytecount and in lymphadenopathy. One ofthe above and eight additional patientshad intensive leukapheresis therapyconsisting of five procedures per weekfor 1-4 wk. The median total number oflymphocytes removed from these patients was 11.34 x 10¹¹ (range 3.30 x10¹¹-47.4 x 10¹¹). Eight of these patients had a decrease in lymphocytecount, five in spleen size, eight inlymph node size, seven in bone marrow infiltration, and one in liver size.Lymphocyte counts before beginningleukapheresis therapy ranged from20,500 to 684,000 (median 70,900). Themedian lymphocyte count on completion of treatment was 19,200 (range6,590-40,000). After leukapheresis therapy, the median doubling time of thelymphocyte count was 71 days (range29-118 days). In addition to demonstrating a significant proliferative component in CLL, the objective regressionof disease in ten of the 13 patients suggests that leukapheresis is a potentiallyuseful treatment for CLL.

Submitted on June 21, 1971 Revised on August 9, 1971 Accepted on August 10, 1971