title: Increased expression of angiopoietin-2 characterizes early B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia with poor prognosis.
abstract: We measured the angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2) expression in early chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients, pointing our attention on the association with immunoglobulin (IgV(H)) mutational status, CD38 expression and clinical outcome. Our results indicate that Ang-2 expression is heterogeneous among Binet stage A CLL patients. CLL patients can be divided into two subgroups (Ang-2 positive and Ang-2 negative CLL) with 30% of them displaying Ang-2 RNA levels above the cut off. A shorter progression-free survival was observed in Ang-2 positive CLL subset (p=0.032). Abnormal Ang-2 expression was also associated with unmutated IgV(H) genes (p<0.0001) and increased bone marrow angiogenesis (p=0.028), suggesting a role of Ang-2 in disease-progression of early CLL patients.
authors.affiliation: Hematology Unit, Department of Oncology and Hematology, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via Del Pozzo 71, 41100 Modena, Italy.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Martinelli
authors.forename: Rossana
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Maffei
authors.forename: Ilaria
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Castelli
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Santachiara
authors.forename: Patrizia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zucchini
authors.forename: Marcella
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fontana
authors.forename: Goretta
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bonacorsi
authors.forename: Giovanna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Leonardi
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Marasca
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Torelli
mesh_terms: D051997:ADP-ribosyl Cyclase 1 / Q000378:metabolism; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D042702:Angiopoietin-2 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000098:blood supply; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D015973:Gene Expression Regulation, Leukemic / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007143:Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains; D007135:Immunoglobulin Variable Region; D015451:Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D016393:Lymphoma, B-Cell / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008833:Microcirculation; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D042702:Angiopoietin-2; D007143:Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains; D007135:Immunoglobulin Variable Region; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D051997:ADP-ribosyl Cyclase 1