Del(13q14.3) length matters: An integrated analysis of genomic, fluorescence in situ hybridization and clinical data in 169 chronic lymphocytic leukaemia patients with 13q deletion alone or a normal karyotype

摘要

Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL), characterizedby a monoclonal expansion and accumulation of smallmature B lymphocytes, is the most common adult‐onsetleukaemia in the Western world [1,2]. The disease has avery heterogenous natural clinical course, and survivalafter diagnosis can range from months to decades [1–3].The most frequent chromosomal aberration is del(13q14.3), which occurs in about 50% of cases and targetsthe DLEU2/MIR15A/MIR16B locus [4–6]. Deletions at13q14.3 vary in size, and the involvement of transcriptsother than MIR15A/MIR16B has been proposed [7–10].The clinical relevance of the larger 13q14.3 deletions isnot well established. Amongst 179 CLL patients [74 withdel(13q14.3)], Ouillette et al. [7] reported an associationbetween poorer clinical features and larger deletions, butno data were presented on overall survival (OS) or time totreatment (TT).