TACI Expression and Signaling in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
Table 2
Overview of clinical and laboratory characteristics of the patients of the study.
Total
At diagnosis
During follow-up
No treatment
Relapse1
No (%)
94 (100.0)
54 (57.4)
21 (22.3)
19 (20.3)
Gender (M/F)
53/41
34/20
10/11
9/10
Age (y, mean ± SD)
68.6 ± 10.0
68.7 ± 10.5
65.7 ± 9.9
71.3 ± 7.8
At enrollment
WBC (×109/L) (median, IQR)
22.0 (13.8–34.2)
19.0 (14.2–31.4)
21.0 (19.4–31.7)
34.5 (14.2–61.5)
B cells (×109/L) (median, IQR)
16.0 (5.7–27.1)
9.9 (5.3–20.2)
11.8 (5.2–20.0)
23.6 (5.4–39.9)
Rai staging system
Stage O (, %)
42, 44.7
28, 51.9
8, 38.0
6, 31.6
Stage I (, %)
22, 23.4
9, 16.6
10, 47.7
3, 15.8
Stage II (, %)
11, 11.7
7, 13.0
2, 9.5
2, 10.5
Stage III (, %)
10, 10.6
8, 14.8
0, 0
2, 10.5
Stage IV (, %)
9, 9.6
2, 3.7
1, 4.8
6, 31.6
Immunophenotyping
CD5 (median, IQR)
97.5 (86.8–99.4)
95.6 (83.3–98.9)
98.6 (97.1–99.7)
99.3 (82.4–99.7)
CD23 (median, IQR)
91.1 (81.8–96.5)
92.1(84.4–97.0)
93.8 (84.1–97.5)
84.6 (81.5–91.0)
CD20 (median, IQR)
92.0 (83.8–97.5)
93.0 (84.4–98.3)
92.5 (85.3–97.9)
91.0 (75.4–95.9)
CD79b (median, IQR)
92.4 (82.7–98.8)
92.7 (80.8–98.2)
96.4 (84.0–99.9)
88.5 (81.8–98.8)
CD43 (median, IQR)
93.3 (84.6–97.1)
92.8 (81.4–97.0)
94.2 (86.8–97.6)
94.7 (80.6–97.1)
FMC7 (median, IQR)
42.7 (28.9–59.4)
44.5 (30.7–61.2)
44.2 (30.8–61.6)
35.8 (15.0–58.9)
CD38 (median, IQR)
1.8 (0.6–15.5)
1.4 (0.5–8.6)
1.7 (0.7–19.1)
12.0 (0.2–27.1)
CD11c (median, IQR)
34.6 (17.4–52.0)
34.7 (17.4–50.7)
37.1 (20.1–62.1)
28.6 (11.9–55.1)
CD10 (median, IQR)
10.0 (4.8–17.7)
8.7 (4.7–16.4)
11.0 (5.3–19.3)
11.3 (3.8–18.7)
Kappa (, %)
61, 65.0
36, 66.6
15, 71.4
10, 52.6
Lambda (, %)
33, 35.0
18, 33.3
6, 28.6
9, 47.4
Hypogammaglobulinemia
Total Igs < 600 mg/dL
15, 16.0
4, 7.4
3, 14.3
8, 42.9
Total Igs < 300 mg/dL
3, 3.2
0, 0
0, 0
3, 15.8
Monoclonal M-component2
7, 7.4
2, 3.7
2, 9.5
3, 15.8
At enrollment and during follow-up
Autoimmune/autoinflammatory manifestations
18, 19.1
10, 18.5
1, 4.8
7, 36.8
Coombs direct (, %)3
7, 7.4
4, 7.4
0, 0
3, 15.8
Other (, %)4
11, 11.7
6, 11.3
1, 4.8
4, 21.0
Infections (, %)5
19, 20.2
8, 14.8
1, 4.8
10, 52.6
Respiratory (, %)
10, 10.6
3, 5.5
1, 4.8
6, 31.6
Urinary (, %)
2, 2.1
0, 0
0, 0
2, 10.5
Herpes viruses (, %)6
5, 5.3
2, 3.7
0, 0
3, 15.8
Other (, %)7
5, 5.3
3, 5.5
0, 0
2, 10.5
Death (, %)
20, 21.3
11, 20.3
2, 9.5
7, 36.8
Survival (mo) (median, IQR)
52.5, 38.5–72.2
43.5, 11.5–53.2
73.0, 52.5–115.5
93.0, 59.0–134.0
Abbreviations: F, female; Igs; immunoglobulins; IQR, interquartile range; M, male; mo, months; SD, standard deviation; WBC, white blood cell count. 1Patients at relapse had received in the past chlorambucil-based medication (10 patients), fludarabine-based medication (3), only corticosteroids (1), cyclophosphamide/vincristine-based medication (2), or multiple consecutive treatments (3). Anti-CD20 (rituximab) treatment had been administered in 6 patients, in combination with other medications; 2IgG (5 patients), IgM (2 patients). 3a patient at diagnosis and another at relapse developed also autoimmune hemolytic anemia. 4Including rheumatic polymyalgia (one patient), Crohn disease (one patient), thrombopenic purpura (one patient), hyperthyreodism (antithyroglobulin/anti-TG antibodies; one patient), while 7 patients displayed autoantibodies without clinical signs of autoimmunity (antinuclear/ANA, and/or anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic/ANCA, and/or anti-smooth muscle/ASMA, and/or anti-extractable nuclear/ENA, and/or antiphospholipid/APA antibodies). 53 patients at relapse displayed infections at multiple locations; 6herpes simplex (a patient at diagnosis) and varicella zoster virus (4 patients); 7including sepsis (2 patients), encephalitis (1), salmonellosis (1) and tuberculosis (1).
