Increased bone marrow angiogenesis in B cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
Recent studies have shown that angiogenesis may be involved in the pathogenesis of hematopoietic malignancies, apart from its well-characterized role in the growth and metastasis of solid tumors. In this study, we quantified the degree of angiogenesis in B cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) by measuring the microvessel density and hotspot density in bone marrow trephine biopsy sections with B-CLL involvement (n = 12) and compared it to normal bone marrow sections (n = 11). The B-CLL samples had a mean microvessel count/high power field (hpf) of 7.64 while the control samples had a mean microvessel count/hpf of 2.11 (P = 0.0001). The mean hotspot density in the B-CLL sections (14.83/hotspot) was also significantly higher (P = 0.0008) than the mean hotspot density in control bone marrow sections (7.09/hotspot). Both the microvessel density and hotspot density correlated positively with the clinical stage of the B-CLL patients. In a separate cohort of B-CLL patients, the median urine level of the angiogenic peptide, basic fibroblast growth factor (2216.5 pg/g, n = 14), was significantly higher (P = 0.0001) than the bFGF level in normal controls (1,084 pg/g, n = 58). These results indicate that angiogenesis may be involved in the pathogenesis of B-CLL.
Kini
A R
AR
Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, IL, USA.
Kay
N E
NE
Peterson
L C
LC
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000098:blood supply*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016228:Endothelial Growth Factors / Q000378:metabolism / Q000652:urine; D005260:Female; D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 / Q000378:metabolism / Q000652:urine; D006801:Humans; D015451:Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A
D016228:Endothelial Growth Factors; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2