Check whether patients with Hairy Cell Leukemia (HCL) of different status (at diagnosis, in complete remission > 2 years or relapsed requiring therapy) have a 'signature' of altered immunity based on extracellular vesicles (EV)

Extracellular vesicles are small particles detected within plasma and recognized as mediators of intercellular communication thanks to their cargo of proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids. However, the composition of vesicles from Hairy Cell Leukemia patients, which may hold the key to unraveling their involvement and function within tumor microenvironment, is totally unknown. The aim of this study is to characterize these extracellular vesicles in order to identify biology-related and disease-specific biomarkers.

Inclusion criteria for patients:

• WHO2022-defined diagnosis of Hairy Cell Leukemia.
• age ≥18 years.
• signed informed consent.

Inclusion criteria for Healthy Donors:

• age ≥18 years.
• Volunteers in general good health, free from any disease or serious illness.
• Signed informed consent.

Exclusion criteria

- None

The study population will be composed by Hairy Cell Leukemia patients (3 groups: patients at diagnosis (n=10); patients in complete response for >2 years (n=10); relapsed patients meeting treatment indications (n=5)) and by Healthy Donors (n=25) enrolled among volunteers of the no profit organization BolognAIL.