Background: The cytotoxic effect of plants such as green tea and turmeric (curcumin) on B chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells has been established. The plant Artemisia has been used in China for anti-cancer and anti-malaria applications. In Israel, Artemisia absinthium ("the Chiba") is used to release abdominal pain. In attempts to evaluate the cytotoxic effect of this plant in CLL cells, we prepared a decoction of Artemisia leaves and after filtration used it as an inducer of apoptosis of B CLL cells.
Methods: CLL cells were collected from 7 patients in different stages of the disease. Apoptosis was measured using an annexin based flow cytometry assay.
Results: First a viability test showed that 100μl/106 cells was the most effective dilution for killing up to 70% cells after 48 hours of incubation. In these conditions Artemisia induced approximately 75% apoptosis in comparison to 32% in the cultures without Artemisia.
Conclusions: We concluded that decoction of Artemisia absinthium is a potent inducer of in vitro apoptosis of CLL cells. Our results provide a laboratory basis for further clinical application.
Contemporary studies of Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitor (BTKi) resistance focus on mutations in the B-cell receptor (BCR) pathway, but alternative mechanisms of resistance remain undefined. Here, we sought to identify novel predictive markers of acquired resistance to acalabrutinib, a second-generation BTKi, in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Clinical samples from 41 patients with relapsed/refractory or treatment-naive CLL receiving acalabrutinib as part of a clinical trial (NCT02029443) were divided into two groups: those who continued to respond to treatment (NP, n = 23) and those who developed progressive disease on acalabrutinib therapy (PD, n = 18).
While earlier post-mortem studies show involvement of the central nervous system in 71% of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), involvement intravitam is rare. A 72-year-old man with untreated, minimally symptomatic CLL developed subacute-onset encephalopathy and presented with severe hyponatremia and stress-induced cardiomyopathy. His initial head computed tomography scan was unremarkable.
Background: Analysis of immunoglobulin heavy chain gene (IGHV) rearrangements expressed in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells has provided insights into the B-cell receptor (BCR) repertoire in CLL. In more than 40% of CLL patients, (quasi)identical or stereotyped BCR is expressed. The recent data point at the non-stochastic expression of immunoglobulin light lambda (IGLV) or kappa (IGKV) chains as well.
Cell adhesion is warranted by proteins that are crucial for the maintenance of tissue integrity and homeostasis. Most of these proteins behave as receptors to link adhesion to the control of cell survival and their expression or regulation are often altered in cancers. B-cell malignancies do not evade this principle as they are sustained in relapsed niches by interacting with the microenvironment that includes cells and their secreted factors.
Background: Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) typically presents with asymptomatic, early-stage disease that is monitored until disease progression ('treatment-naïve' CLL). The objective of this pilot study was to assess the feasibility and preliminary safety of an exercise program in treatment-naïve CLL. We also sought to preliminarily assess the impact of the exercise program on disease activity, as it has been proposed that exercise training may reduce disease outgrowth in treatment-naïve CLL.
