title: Immunoglobulin gene rearrangements in Chinese and Italian patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
abstract: Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the most common type of leukemia in the Western world, whereas in Asia the incidence is about 10 times lower. The basis for this ethnic and geographic variation is currently unknown. The aim of this study was to characterize IGHVDJ rearrangements and stereotype of the HCDR3 region in a series of 623 Chinese CLL, in order to identify possible differences in immunoglobulin gene usage and their potential pathogenetic implications. Chinese CLL were compared to 789 Italian CLL. Chinese patients showed a higher proportion of mutated IGHV and a more frequent usage of IGHV3-7, IGHV3-74, IGHV4-39 and IGHV4-59 genes. A significantly lower usage of IGHV1-69 and IGHV1-2 was documented, with comparable IGHV3-21 frequency (3% Chinese vs 3.8% Italian CLL). The proportion of known stereotyped receptors was significantly lower in Chinese (19.7%) than in Italian CLL (25.8%), despite a significantly higher frequency of subset #8 (p= 0.0001). Moreover, new paired clusters were identified among Chinese cases. Overall, these data support a potential different antigenic exposure between Eastern and Western CLL.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular Biotechnologies and Hematology, "Sapienza" University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Marilisa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marinelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular Biotechnologies and Hematology, "Sapienza" University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Caterina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ilari
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Jiangsu Province Hospital, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular Biotechnologies and Hematology, "Sapienza" University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Ilaria
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Del Giudice
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular Biotechnologies and Hematology, "Sapienza" University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Luciana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cafforio
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular Biotechnologies and Hematology, "Sapienza" University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Irene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Della Starza
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular Biotechnologies and Hematology, "Sapienza" University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Raponi
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular Biotechnologies and Hematology, "Sapienza" University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mariglia
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular Biotechnologies and Hematology, "Sapienza" University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bonina
authors.affiliation: Department of Lymphoma & Myeloma Institute of Hematology, CAMS & PUMC, Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Lymphoma & Myeloma Institute of Hematology, CAMS & PUMC, Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: Wenjuan
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Lymphoma & Myeloma Institute of Hematology, CAMS & PUMC, Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: Lugui
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.affiliation: GIMEMA Data Center, GIMEMA Foundation, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Alfonso
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Piciocchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Yok-Lam
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Kwong
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tse
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Jiangsu Province Hospital, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Jianyong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular Biotechnologies and Hematology, "Sapienza" University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Guarini
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Jiangsu Province Hospital, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular Biotechnologies and Hematology, "Sapienza" University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Robin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Foà
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000235:genetics*; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015321:Gene Rearrangement; D050438:Genes, Immunoglobulin Heavy Chain; D006801:Humans; D007135:Immunoglobulin Variable Region; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D015451:Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D005810:Multigene Family; D011379:Prognosis; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D007135:Immunoglobulin Variable Region
keywords: Chinese CLL; IGHV; Italian CLL; chronic lymphocytic leukemia; stereotyped receptors