Prognostic Significance of Telomere Length in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Patients in Early Stage Disease

• Published in: Blood 2011-11, Vol.118 (21), p.3890-3890
• Main Authors: Fabris, Sonia, Hoxha, Mirjam, Agnelli, Luca, Dioni, Laura, Bollati, Valentina, Ciceri, Gabriella, Mosca, Laura, Barbieri, Marzia, Cutrona, Giovanna, Matis, Serena, Gentile, Massimo, Deliliers, Giorgio Lambertenghi, Cortelezzi, Agostino, Morabito, Fortunato, Ferrarini, Manlio, Baccarelli, Andrea, Neri, Antonino, Bertazzi, Pier Alberto
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0006-4971; 1528-0020
• DOI: 10.1182/blood.V118.21.3890.3890

Abstract 3890 Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a genetically heterogeneous disease with a variable outcome. The identification of factors that could predict the clinical course of early-stage CLL represents a crucial objective. Although previous studies indicated that telomere length may be a useful independent prognostic factor in the risk stratification of CLL, limited information has been reported in asymptomatic early stage patients (Binet stage A). We investigate the association of telomere length with the major biological and cytogenetic markers known to predict clinical outcome in CLL. The global DNA methylation levels of Alu and LINE sequences, was also investigated. Correlation with disease progression, measured as the time elapsed from diagnosis to first treatment, was evaluated. We measured relative telomere length (RTL) by real-time PCR in a panel of highly purified (>90%) peripheral mononuclear CD19+ cells from 7 healthy donors and 77 untreated CLLs. All the cases were characterized by FISH for the most frequent chromosomal aberrations (Fabris et al. GCC, 2008). Molecular markers including mutation status of the heavy chain variable regions of immunoglobulin genes (IGVH), the expression of the 70-kd zeta-chain T-cell receptor-associated protein kinase (ZAP-70) and CD38 cell surface antigen protocols were previously reported (Cutrona et al., Haematologica, 2008). A quantitative bisulfite-PCR Pyrosequencing method was used to evaluate methylation of Alu and LINE-1. We found a significantly lower RTL values in CLLs (median RTL=0.4 IQR 0.3–0.6) as compared with controls (median RTL=1.0 IQR 0.9–1.3) (P