Patent ID: 7709199
Filing Date: 2010-05-04
Classification: C12Q,G01N

Abstract:
1. A method for determining the prognosis of a patient presenting with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia comprising: a) isolating a population of lymphocytes from a blood sample taken from said patient; b) examining the DNA of said lymphocytes in order to determine the V c) detecting the expression of CD38 on said lymphocytes, wherein the expression is expressed as a percentage of CLL cells with greater fluorescence than the isotype-matched control; d) detecting the expression of ZAP-70 by said lymphocytes, wherein the expression is expressed as a percentage of CLL cells with equal or greater fluorescence than the T-cell population in the blood sample; and e) feeding the percentages from steps b), c) and d) into the following equation in order to determine the protein tyrosine phosphorylation of said lymphocytes: where PY PostIgM is CLL cell protein tyrosine phosphorylation (following IgM stimulation), CD38 is CLL cell surface presence of CD38, V H status is V H gene mutation status, and ZAP-70 is CLL cell ZAP-70 expression; f) indicating the prognosis for said patient is poor when said protein tyrosine phosphorylation is above the threshold 26±2.6.