Comparison between the cellular proteins of hairy cell leukemia and the leukemic phase of other lymphoproliferative diseases.

Cellular proteins from malignant cells of the leukemic phase of hairy cell leukemia and other lymphoproliferative diseases characterized by immunological markers were evaluated by sodium dodecyl sulfate gradient-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The protein patterns from eight patients with hairy cell leukemia were essentially identical. The protein patterns from eight patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, seven patients with acute lymphocytic leukemia, and four patients with poorly differentiated lymphocytic lymphoma were examined and did not demonstrate a consistent pattern within each disease. The protein patterns of one patient each with T-cell malignant lymphoma, lymphoblastic lymphoma, or acute monocytic leukemia were also examined. The protein pattern for hairy cell leukemia is distinctly different from that of all the other diseases studied; differences were distinct even within and between immunological subtypes.