title: A study for proposal of use of regulatory T cells as a prognostic marker and establishing an optimal threshold level for their expression in chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
abstract: Although regulatory T cells (Tregs) have been extensively studied in chronic lymphocytic leukemia, there is no uniform guideline or consensus regarding their use as a prognostic marker. This study describes the methodology used to develop an optimal threshold level for Tregs in these patients. Treg levels were assessed in the peripheral blood of 130 patients and 150 controls. Treg frequencies were linked to established prognostic markers as well as overall survival and time to first treatment. The cut-offs for Treg positivity were assessed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. A cut-off of 5.7% for Treg cell percentage and of 35 cells/μL for absolute Treg cell count were determined as optimal in patients with CLL along with a median Treg percentage of 15.5% used to separate patients with low- and high-risk disease. The experiments presented here will possibly aid in the use of Treg frequencies as a potential prognostic marker in CLL.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences , New Delhi , India.
authors.forename: Alakananda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dasgupta
authors.forename: Manoranjan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mahapatra
authors.forename: Renu
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Saxena
mesh_terms: D051997:ADP-ribosyl Cyclase 1 / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D015451:Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology* / Q000628:therapy; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D012372:ROC Curve; D012107:Research Design; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D013997:Time Factors; D051746:ZAP-70 Protein-Tyrosine Kinase / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: C418974:FOXP3 protein, human; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors; D051746:ZAP-70 Protein-Tyrosine Kinase; D051997:ADP-ribosyl Cyclase 1
keywords: Chronic lymphocytic leukemia; Kaplan–Meier estimates; optimal cut-off; overall survival; prognostic marker; receiver operating characteristic analysis; regulatory T cell; time to first treatment