As well as research, the department of haematology participates in clinical trials. In 'normal blood' new cells are created and destroyed all the time. It is the focus of the research team to look at how and why this process is occurring. In particular, the patterns of blood migration involved in CLL are thought to be of particular importance. However, in CLL the pattern of migration of blood cells is different from 'healthy' people.
All cells transmit signals to grow, divide or migrate.
A better understanding of this migratory process could lead to new therapeutic strategies. It was found that it is possible to destroy this gene using anti-sense oligonucleotides. This process could also be used to treat lymphomas. Obviously different researchers are attacking various aspects of cell development in CLL, but the common theme running throughout is to better understand the pattern of cell survival and migration. As I describe elsewhere, once the researchers understand the processes of cell stimulation, or cell signalling, they hope to be able to find ways of blocking this.