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CLL B cells with a bimodal CD38 expression pattern: persistence of bimodal populations despite effective therapy for B-CLL

Leukemia volume 18, pages 180–182 (2004)Cite this article

TO THE EDITOR

CD38 is a surface marker associated with aggressive disease course and overall shorter survival time in B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL). Several groups, including our laboratory, have investigated this marker on CLL B cells and found that greater than 30% CD38 expression within a CLL leukemic population correlates to an overall shorter time to progression and, in general, a poor clinical outcome.1,2,3,4,5 However, another study suggests that scoring CLL B-cell CD38 expression using both percent-positive and mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) is a more accurate prognostic tool for B-CLL patients.6 Recently, Ghia et al7 found that even a small distinct population of CD38pos cells, displayed as a small peak in a bimodal CD38-staining profile, was associated with progressive disease. Taken together, these findings provide support for the positive association between CD38 expression and disease progression.

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Immunology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA

    B T Pittner & D F Jelinek

  2. Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA

    N E Kay

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  1. B T Pittner
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  2. D F Jelinek
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  3. N E Kay
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Pittner, B., Jelinek, D. & Kay, N. CLL B cells with a bimodal CD38 expression pattern: persistence of bimodal populations despite effective therapy for B-CLL. Leukemia 18, 180–182 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.leu.2403151

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