How would you manage a patient with minimal residual disease (<1% of CD25 positive cells) six months after completing therapy with 2-CDA for Hairy Cell Leukemia?
Answer from: Medical Oncologist at Academic Institution
This is a challenging question. Patients with HCL who have MRD after treatment with cladribine or pentostatin have shorter remissions than those who have pathologic remissions. Several studies have shown eradication of MRD with subsequent treatment with rituximab. Thus, utilization of rituximab afte...
Answer from: Medical Oncologist at Academic Institution
I completely agree with @Mark L. Heaney that this is challenging and that there is no clear benefit to acting on minimal residual disease at this interval. I think he outlined the data and the situation very well. While it is tempting to treat this with rituximab, I also favor observation, as it is ...