title: The clinical significance of ZAP-70 and CD38 expression in B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (B-CLL) is a disease with a highly variable clinical course; some patients never need treatment, while others require intensive treatment early after diagnosis. Recently, some new prognostic factors, such as IgVH mutational status, ZAP-70 and the expression of CD38 in leukaemic cells were introduced to identify attenuated versus progressive types of CLL bearing the potential to facilitate risk-adapted treatment strategies.
  
  
  METHODS
  To evaluate the clinical value of ZAP-70 and CD38 as predictors of disease progression we assessed the expression of these markers by the flow cytometry method in 156 B-CLL patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Both ZAP-70 and CD38 expression were shown to predict the clinical course of the disease, while ZAP-70 expression appeared to be more predictive than CD38 expression and more relevant in defining the cases of B-CLL responsive or refractory to first line chemotherapy. A simultaneous evaluation of ZAP-70 and CD38 expression allowed distinguishing the patients groups with the most favourable prognosis as well as those with the worst. Taken together we recommend assessing both ZAP-70 and CD38 protein expression for the definition of prognostic subgroups in patients with B-CLL.
authors.affiliation: Department of Haemato-oncology, Medical University of Lublin, Poland. iwohus@wp.pl
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hus
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Podhorecka
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bojarska-Junak
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Roliński
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schmitt
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sieklucka
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wasik-Szczepanek
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dmoszyńska
mesh_terms: D051997:ADP-ribosyl Cyclase 1 / Q000378:metabolism*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D015451:Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell / Q000378:metabolism*; D008875:Middle Aged; D051746:ZAP-70 Protein-Tyrosine Kinase / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D051746:ZAP-70 Protein-Tyrosine Kinase; D051997:ADP-ribosyl Cyclase 1