Recent reports suggest that the expression of germline (GL) Ig variable region heavy-chain genes (VH) is a negative prognostic factor for @entity1072 ( @entity1072 ) @entity1 and that @entity1072 B-cell @entity3053 expression may be a surrogate marker of Ig VH gene status. Currently, however, the usefulness of this surrogate marker is controversial. Therefore, our goal was to study the ability of @entity3053 to act as a surrogate marker for Ig VH somatic mutation (SM), and to identify differences in @entity1349 ( @entity1349 ), progression-free survival (PFS) and response in @entity1072 @entity1 based on these two markers. We first assessed the relationship between @entity3053 expression and Ig VH status on 131 @entity1072 @entity1 , including 66 @entity1 enrolled in three North Central @entity5 Treatment Group Trials. Although the mean percentages of @entity3053 + clonal B cells were significantly higher for @entity1 classified as GL versus SM, @entity3053 was not a reliable marker for clonal B-cell SM. Overall, GL @entity1 exhibited significantly shorter @entity1349 and PFS times than SM @entity1 . Despite the inability of clonal B-cell @entity3053 expression to predict Ig VH mutation status, @entity1 with < or =30% @entity3053 + cells did have shorter PFS and @entity1349 times than did @entity1072 @entity1 with < 30% @entity3053 + cells. Thus, the relationship between @entity3053 expression and Ig VH mutation status in @entity1072 is not straightforward. Nevertheless, analysis in a co-operative group clinical trial setting suggests that both B-cell markers alone or in combination may have clinical usefulness. These data strongly encourage the study of these biological markers as they relate to disease heterogeneity in @entity1072 .

Analysis of clonal B-cell XXXX and immunoglobulin variable region sequence status in relation to clinical outcome for @entity1072 .

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['patients'] @entity5 :: ('MESH:D009369', 'Disease') :: ['Cancer'] @entity1072 :: ('MESH:D015451', 'Disease') :: ['B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukaemia', 'CLL', 'B-CLL'] @entity3053 :: ('952', 'Gene') :: ['CD38'] @entity1349 :: ('MESH:D011475', 'Disease') :: ['OS', 'overall survival']
@entity3053 :: (952,Gene) :: ['CD38']
