[Prolymphocytic leukemia, description of 2 cases].

We present the clinical and laboratory features of 2 patients with B prolymphocytic leukemia. Both are females of the fifth and seventh decade of life. One had the classical clinical picture of massive splenomegaly and a high white cell count, with characteristic prolymphocytes, and the other was asymptomatic, with a low white cell count. The cells were positive to B cell lineage reagents with strong surface immunoglobuline (Ig) and unreactive to T cell antibodies. Analysis of Ig genes at the DNA level demonstrated that both cases had heavy-chain gene rearrangements, confirming the B-cell origin. These are the first patients of prolymphocytic leukemia described in Chile.