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Hairy Cell Leukemia

What Is Hairy Cell Leukemia? | Symptoms | Stages and Treatments | Clinical Trials | Greenebaum Cancer Center

What is Hairy Cell Leukemia?

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Hairy cell leukemia is a disease in which cancerous cells develop in the blood and bone marrow. The disease is called hairy cell leukemia because the cancer cells look "hairy" when examined under a microscope.

Hairy cell leukemia affects white blood cells called lymphocytes. Lymphocytes are made in the bone marrow and other organs. Bone marrow is the spongy tissue inside the large bones in the body. Bone marrow cells are produced by immature immortal stem cells. The bone marrow cells produce slightly more mature cells called blasts, which develop into the following types of blood cells that have specific jobs to do in the body:

Red blood cells carry oxygen and other materials to all tissues of the body.
White blood cells fight infection.
Platelets make the blood clot.

Lymphocytes are also made in the spleen (an organ in the upper abdomen that makes lymphocytes and filters old blood cells from the blood), the lymph nodes (small, bean-shaped organs throughout the body), and other organs.

This page was last updated on: October 7, 2009.