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Causes
By Mayo Clinic staffIt's not clear what causes hairy cell leukemia. Doctors know that cancer occurs when cells develop errors in their DNA. In the case of hairy cell leukemia, mutations in the DNA cause your bone marrow stem cells to create too many white blood cells that don't work properly. Doctors don't know what causes the DNA mutations that lead to hairy cell leukemia.
- Tallman MS, et al. Hairy cell leukemia. In: Abeloff MD. Abeloff's Clinical Oncology. 4th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Churchill Livingstone; 2008:2309.
- Zakarija A, et al. Hairy cell leukemia. In: Hoffman R, et al. Hematology: Basic Principles and Practice. 5th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Churchill Livingstone; 2008. http://www.mdconsult.com/book/player/book.do?method=display&type=aboutPage&decorator=header&eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-443-06715-0..X5001-8--TOP&isbn=978-0-443-06715-0&uniq=177554631. Accessed Jan. 7, 2010.
- Saven A. Hairy cell leukemia. In: Lichtman MA, et al. Williams Hematology. 7th ed. New York, N.Y.: McGraw-Hill; 2008. http://www.accessmedicine.com/resourceTOC.aspx?resourceID=69. Accessed Jan. 7, 2010.
- Hairy cell leukemia treatment (PDQ): Patient version. National Cancer Institute. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/treatment/hairy-cell-leukemia/patient/allpages/print. Accessed Jan. 7, 2010.
- Hairy cell leukemia treatment (PDQ): Health professional version. National Cancer Institute. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/treatment/hairy-cell-leukemia/healthprofessional/allpages/print. Accessed Jan. 7, 2010.
- Rituxan (prescribing information). South San Francisco, Calif.: Genentech Inc.; 2009. http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2009/103705s5299lbl.pdf. Accessed Jan. 7, 2010.
- Integrative medicine & complementary and alternative therapies as part of blood cancer care. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. http://www.leukemia-lymphoma.org/attachments/National/br_1150734030.pdf. Jan. 7, 2010.
