Role of Hemolysis in Anemia Secondary to Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia and Certain Malignant Lymphomas

Abstract

CHRONIC lymphocytic leukemia and malignant lymphomas of the lymphocytic and follicular types may be relatively prolonged, benign diseases. They are inevitably fatal, however, and the final years are frequently complicated by an intractable anemia. This is, in our experience, the most distressing symptom and the most common cause of morbidity. If the anemia can be controlled, many patients are able to live relatively asymptomatic and productive lives up to the very terminal stages of their disease. A better understanding of the mechanism of this anemia is essential to rational therapy.In the older literature, it was commonly stated that the . . .