B-lymphocytic hairy cells contain no HTLV-II DNA sequences

HTLV-II has been found in some cases of the rare T-cell form of hairy- cell leukemia (HCL) and in a leukopenic chronic T-cell leukemia mimicking HCL. We asked whether the virus is implicated in the more frequent B-cell form of HCL. DNA extracted from the mononuclear cells derived from spleen (eight cases) or peripheral blood (eight cases) of 16 patients with the B-cell form of HCL was probed. No viral sequences were detected at levels of sensitivity as low as one viral genome in five cells. Therefore HTLV-II may not be involved in the B-cell form of HCL.