1. IGHV3-21 Gene Frequency in a Swedish Cohort of Patients With Newly Diagnosed Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
- Author
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Fergus Ryan, Karin E. Smedby, Rebeqa Gunnarsson, Richard Rosenquist, Gunnar Juliusson, Mattias Jansson, Fiona Murray, Larry Mansouri, Lesley-Ann Sutton, Christian H. Geisler, and Nicola Cahill
- Subjects
Adult ,Male ,Cancer Research ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Chronic lymphocytic leukemia ,Population ,Immunoglobulin Variable Region ,White People ,Cohort Studies ,Gene Frequency ,Internal medicine ,medicine ,Humans ,education ,Allele frequency ,Aged ,Neoplasm Staging ,Sweden ,education.field_of_study ,Hematology ,business.industry ,Middle Aged ,Prognosis ,medicine.disease ,Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell ,Stereotypy (non-human) ,Oncology ,Mutation ,Cohort ,Immunology ,Medical genetics ,Female ,Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains ,business ,Cohort study - Abstract
The IGHV3-21 gene has been shown to be overrepresented in Scandinavian patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). By investigating a population-based cohort of 337 Swedish patients with CLL, a lower (6.5%) IGHV3-21 frequency was determined relative to our previous hospital-based studies (10.1%-12.7%), yet this frequency remained higher compared to other Western CLL cohorts (2.6%-4.1%). Furthermore, we confirmed the poor outcome for patients with IGHV3-21 to be independent of mutational and stereotypy status. Background: Scandinavian patients with CLL have shown an overrepresentation of the poor-prognostic IGHV3-21 gene. Furthermore, approximately 50% of patients with IGHV3-21 carry stereotyped B-cell receptors, which implicate antigen selection in leukemogenesis. These patients have also been reported to have shorter time to progression than patients with nonstereotyped IGHV3-21. Materials and Methods: To investigate the IGHV3-21 frequency and the clinical impact of IGHV3-21 stereotypy, 337 newly diagnosed Swedish CLL patients from a population-based cohort were analyzed. Results: Interestingly, the IGHV3-21 frequency was indeed lower (6.5%) in this indolent patient cohort than in our previous hospital-based cohort studies (10.1%-12.7%). Hence, a selection bias of more-aggressive cases rendered a higher proportion of IGHV3-21 cases in our original studies. Nevertheless, the Swedish IGHV3-21 frequency still remained higher when compared with other larger European or American studies (2.6%-4.1%). Finally, we confirmed the poor outcome for IGHV3-21 patients to be independent of mutational status and found stereotypy to have no impact on survival or time to treatment. Conclusion: The Swedish geographic bias in IGHV3-21 gene frequency was validated albeit at a lower frequency than previously reported. Moreover, no prognostic value could be attributed to IGHV3-21 stereotype status.
- Published
- 2012
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