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Purpose: We sought to investigate whether B cell receptor immunoglobulin (BcR IG) stereotypy is associated with particular clinicobiological features among chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients expressing mutated BcR IG (M-CLL) encoded by the IGHV4-34 gene, and also ascertain whether these associations could refine prognostication. Experimental Design: In a series of 19,907 CLL cases with available immunogenetic information, we identified 339 IGHV4-34-expressing cases assigned to one of the four largest stereotyped M-CLL subsets, namely subsets #4, #16, #29 and #201, and investigated in detail their clinicobiological characteristics and disease outcomes. Results: We identified shared and subset-specific patterns of somatic hypermutation (SHM) among patients assigned to these subsets. The greatest similarity was observed between subsets #4 and #16, both including IgG-switched cases (IgG-CLL). In contrast, the least similarity was detected between subsets #16 and #201, the latter concerning IgM/D-expressing CLL. Significant differences between subsets also involved disease stage at diagnosis and the presence of specific genomic aberrations. IgG subsets #4 and #16 emerged as particularly indolent with a significantly ( P < 0.05) longer time-to-first-treatment (TTFT; median TTFT: not yet reached) compared with the IgM/D subsets #29 and #201 (median TTFT: 11 and 12 years, respectively). Conclusions: Our findings support the notion that BcR IG stereotypy further refines prognostication in CLL, superseding the immunogenetic distinction based solely on SHM load. In addition, the observed distinct genetic aberration landscapes and clinical heterogeneity suggest that not all M-CLL cases are equal, prompting further research into the underlying biological background with the ultimate aim of tailored patient management. Clin Cancer Res; 23(17); 5292-301. ©2017 AACR ., (©2017 American Association for Cancer Research.)

Purpose: Immunoglobulin G-switched chronic lymphocytic leukemia (G-CLL) is a rare variant of CLL, whose origin and ontogenetic relationship to the common IgM/IgD (MD-CLL) variant remains undefined. Here, we sought for clues about the ontogeny of G-CLL versus MD-CLL by profiling the relevant IG gene repertoires., Experimental Design: Using purpose-built bioinformatics methods, we performed detailed immunogenetic profiling of a multinational CLL cohort comprising 1,256 cases, of which 1,087 and 169 expressed IG mu/delta and gamma heavy chains, respectively., Results: G-CLL has a highly skewed IG gene repertoire that is distinct from MD-CLL, especially in terms of (i) overuse of the IGHV4-34 and IGHV4-39 genes and (ii) differential somatic hypermutation (SHM) load. Repertoire differences were also found when comparing subgroups with similar SHM status and were mainly attributed to the exclusive representation in G-CLL of two major subsets with quasi-identical (stereotyped) B-cell receptors. These subsets, namely #4 (IGHV4-34/IGKV2-30) and #8 (IGHV4-39/IGKV1(D)-39), were found to display sharply contrasting SHM and clinical behavior., Conclusions: G-CLL exhibits an overall distinct immunogenetic signature from MD-CLL, prompting speculations about distinct ontogenetic derivation and/or immune triggering. The reasons underlying the differential regulation of SHM among G-CLL cases remain to be elucidated., (©2013 AACR.)