Tumor Protein 53 Gene Mutations Without 17p13 Deletion Have No Significant Clinical Implications in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. Detection of a New Mutation.

Background: The tumor protein p53 (TP53) gene may be inactivated through 17p13 deletion, somatic mutations, or both. In chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) although 17p13 deletion is correlated with poor prognosis, the role of sole TP53 mutations remains controversial.

Materials And Methods: We carried out a mutation analysis of TP53 gene in 72 patients with CLL.

Prognostic significance of signal transducer and activator of transcription 5 and 5b expression in Epstein-Barr virus-positive patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) proteins have been intensively studied in hematologic malignancies, and the efficacy of agents against STATs in lymphomas is already under research. We investigated the expression of total STAT5 and STAT5b in peripheral blood samples of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) in correlation with the presence of Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) and its major oncoprotein (latent membrane protein 1, LMP1). The EBV load was measured in the peripheral blood by real-time PCR for the BXLF1 gene and the levels of LMP1 by PCR and ELISA.