CONTEXT:

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a clonal lymphoproliferative disorder, characterized by B lymphocytic proliferation. CLL is the most frequent adult leukemia in Western countries, accounting for 25 to 30 per cent of all white leukemic patients.

OBJECTIVE:

To evaluate clinical and staging characteristics in prognosis of chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

DESIGN:

Evaluation of clinical-staging data.

SETTING:

Universidade Federal de São Paulo - Escola Paulista de Medicina / Universidade de Alfenas.

SAMPLE:

73 patients diagnosed from 1977 to 1994.

MAIN MEASUREMENTS:

Sex, ethnic origin, age, lymphadenopathy, splenomegaly, hepatomegaly, three or more areas of lymphoid enlargement, hemoglobin (g/dl), lymphocytes/mm3, Platelets/mm3 RESULTS: Mean survival of patients was 76 months, median age was 65 years, ranging from 33 to 87. Forty-four patients (60.3 per cent) were male and 29 (39.7 per-cent) female.

CONCLUSION:

The Binet system determined a better prognosis than Rai