No pharmaceutical companies were interested in selling the drug because hairy cell leukemia was an orphan disease, so Beutlers lab synthesised and packaged it and supplied it to the hospital pharmacy; the laboratory also developed a test to monitor blood levels. This was the first treatment that led to prolonged remission of hairy cell leukemia, which was previously untreatable. : 14–15 In February 1991, Scripps began a collaboration with Johnson & Johnson to bring intravenous cladribine to market, and by December of that year, Johnson & Johnson had filed a new drug application; cladribine was approved by the FDA in 1993 for hairy cell leukemia as an orphan drug, and was approved in Europe later that year. : 2 The subcutaneous formulation was developed in Switzerland in the early 1990s and it was commercialised by Lipomed GmbH in the 2000s. : 2

Safety profile of cladribine in hairy cell leukemia
Injectable cladribine suppresses the bodys ability to make new lymphocytes, natural killer cells, and neutrophils (called myelosuppression); data from hairy cell leukemia studies showed that about 70% of people taking the drug developed dangerously  low levels of white blood cells and about 30% developed infections and some of those progressed to septic shock; about 40% of people taking the drug had fewer red blood cells and became severely anaemic; and about 10% of people had too few platelets. At the dosage used to treat hairy cell leukemia in two clinical trials, 16% of people had rashes and 22% had nausea, the nausea generally did not lead to vomiting.
A desmoplastic trichoepithelioma is a cutaneous condition characterized by a solitary, firm skin lesion on the face. : 672

Treatment
Desmoplastic trichoepithelioma is a benign tumour and can be managed safely with surgical removal, electrodesiccation and curettage. See also
Trichoepithelioma
Skin lesion


== References ==