The mutational status of immunoglobulins in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia patients: Significance and prognosis

Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia is a malignant disease characterised by proliferation and accumulation of mature B lymphocytes in bone marrow, blood, lymph nodes, and spleen. As part of its process of differentiation, immunoglobulin molecules of B cells, in addition to the characteristic rearrangements in their heavy and light chains, present a set of somatic mutations that greatly increase their diversity. The presence or absence of somatic mutations in the variable regions of the immunoglobulin gene in the malignant B-cells defines the aggressiveness and prognosis of the disease in individuals with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. (C) 2016 Sociedad Mexicana de Oncologia. Published by Masson Doyma Mexico S.A.