Clinical Information

Patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) have variable disease course influenced by a series of tumor biologic factors. The presence of chromosomal 17p- or TP53 gene variation confers a very poor prognosis to a subset of CLL patients, both at time of initial diagnosis as well as at disease progression, or in the setting of therapeutic resistance. TP53 gene variant status in CLL has emerged as the single most predictive tumor genetic abnormality associated with adverse outcome and poor response to standard immunochemotherapy; however, patients can be managed with alternative therapeutic options.