Hairy cell leukemia future or investigational therapies

• Three immunotoxin drugs are in Phase II trials at the NIH‘s National Cancer Institute in the U.S.: BL22^[1], HA22^[2] and LMB-2.^[3]

• All of these protein-based drugs combine part of an anti-B cell antibody with a bacterial toxin to kill the cells on internalization. BL22 and HA22 attack a common protein called CD22, which is present on hairy cells and healthy B cells. LMB-2 attacks a protein called CD25, which is not present in HCL-variant, so LMB-2 is only useful for patients with HCL-classic or the Japanese variant.

• All three of these therapies are available only at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, USA. While initial results are generally favorable, it is likely to be a number of years before these drugs are available on the market.

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