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Nucleolus organizer regions (AgNORs) and total tumor mass are independent prognostic parameters for treatment‐free period in chronic lymphocytic leukemia
Author(s) -
Metze Konradin,
Lobo Ana M.,
LorandMetze Irene
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
international journal of cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.475
H-Index - 234
eISSN - 1097-0215
pISSN - 0020-7136
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0215(20000920)89:5<440::aid-ijc7>3.0.co;2-u
Subject(s) - medicine , chronic lymphocytic leukemia , stage (stratigraphy) , oncology , chemotherapy , multivariate analysis , proportional hazards model , pathology , gastroenterology , leukemia , biology , paleontology
The aim of our study was to evaluate whether the nucleolus organizer regions (AgNOR) of circulating lymphocytes in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) could predict the duration of the stable phase (treatment‐free period) of this disease. Age, sex, peripheral lymphoctes, hemoglobin, platelet count, Binet's stage, total tumor mass (TTM) and AgNOR pattern at diagnosis were assessed in 57 patients and compared with the time from diagnosis until patients fulfilled the criteria to start chemotherapy. In univariate Cox regression, Binet's stage, hemoglobin, number of peripheral lymphocytes, TTM and the percentage of lymphocytes containing one AgNOR cluster (circulating proliferative fraction) had predictive value. In the multivariate Cox model, only TTM and the percentage of cells with one AgNOR cluster were independent factors predicting the duration of the stable phase. Repetition of these analyses in 500 data sets created by bootstrap resampling confirmed the results. Summing up the percentage of lymphocytes with an AgNOR cluster and the TTM value, a simple prognostic index could be created to give information about the duration of the stable phase in CLL. Int. J. Cancer 89:440–443, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.