Abstract
Abstract B-cell chronic leukemia (CLL) is characterized by the accumulation of small B-lymphocytes accompanied by an progressive impairment of hematopoiesis. Here we tested whether loss of hematopoietic capacity in CLL leads to increase in endogenous flt3-ligand (flt3-L), a hematopoietic growth factor for early stem cells. Analysis of 86 serum samples of 18 CLL patients during different disease stages revealed elevated flt3-L values in 84% compared to 40 healthy controls. The highest serum flt3-L levels were found in advanced disease stages (RAI IV). Increased serum flt3-L coincided with high soluble CD23, an established prognostic parameter for CLL. Flt3-L serum values showed a positive correlation to the total number of WBC, and a negative correlation to the number of RBC and hemoglobin concentration. In addition, there was an inverse relationship between serum flt3-L and circulating platelet counts. We conclude that determination of flt3-L can be a new serological parameter for disease staging in CLL. The inverse correlation between serum flt3-L and the number of circulating RBC and platelet counts implicate that the measurement of serum flt3-L can provide information on early hematopoiesis at advanced CLL.
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