Comparison of pentostatin and alpha interferon in splenectomized patients with active hairy cell leukemia: an intergroup study. Cancer and Leukemia Group B and South-West Oncology Group.

In 90 splenectomized patients with active HCL, this multi-institutional intergroup study showed that as compared to alpha interferon (aIF), pentostatin resulted in a higher incidence of response, but the difference was not statistically significantly. Pentostatin-induced remissions occurred significantly faster and such responses lasted significantly longer when compared with aIF induced remissions. there were no unusual toxicities observed in this study. This study confirms previous observations that both these agents have important place in therapy of hairy cell leukemia.