BAFF and APRIL expression in B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia: Correlation with biological and clinical features

✍ Scribed by Agnieszka Bojarska-Junak; Iwona Hus; Sylwia Chocholska; Ewa Wąsik-Szczepanek; Małgorzata Sieklucka; Anna Dmoszyńska; Jacek Roliński

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2009
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 571 KB
• Volume: 33
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0145-2126
• DOI: 10.1016/j.leukres.2009.03.030

✦ Synopsis

B-cell activating factor (BAFF) and a proliferation-inducing ligand (APRIL) are involved in normal B cell survival and differentiation. We analyzed BAFF and APRIL plasma levels in patients with B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL). We also tested intracellular BAFF and APRIL expression in B-CLL and evaluated their prognostic relevance. The percentage of leukemic B cells with intracellular APRIL or BAFF expression correlated significantly with adverse prognostic factors such as ZAP-70 and CD38. Moreover, we found a close relationship between LPL protein expression or LPL/ADAM29 MFI ratio and proportion of B-CLL cells with intracellular BAFF or APRIL expression. Furthermore, patients with a low percentage of leukemic cells with intracellular BAFF or APRIL expression had a significantly longer overall survival than those with a high proportion of APRIL or BAFF positive leukemic cells.