Improved Patient Classification in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

CMM Group Leader Professor Richard Rosenquist Brandell, is one of the main coauthors of a large study recently published in Blood. Nearly 30.000 patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) were included in this study, led by principal investigators who participate in the European Research Initiative on CLL (ERIC), one of which is Richard Rosenquist Brandell. The title of the published article is “Higher-order connections between stereotyped subsets: implications for improved patient classification in CLL”.

CLL is a highly heterogeneous cancer form with disease courses ranging from indolent to aggressive. Common to all patients with this type of leukemia is the clonal expansion and increased numbers of B cells in the blood. The results presented in this paper show that 41% of the patients could be classified into different disease subgroups based on the molecular characterization of the B-cell receptor found on the surface of the leukemic cells. This is the largest study of molecular subsets of CLL performed to date and it corroborates previous data while it refines the characterization and classification even more.

The results provide new possibilities to overcome the heterogeneity of CLL through compartmentalized research and a potential for development of more specific treatments.

Link to the article: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32992344/

Link to the press release on Karolinska Institutet website (in Swedish): https://nyheter.ki.se/ny-molekylar-klassificering-av-kronisk-lymfatisk-leukemi

Richard Rosenquist Brandell

Small photo on main page: Magnus Bergström, provided by the Wallenberg Foundations