Differential rates of somatic hypermutation in V(H) genes among subsets of chronic lymphocytic leukemia defined by chromosomal abnormalities

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a B-cell tumor involving small lymphocytes that generally express the CD5 antigen and low levels of surface Ig. Within this definition, there is heterogeneity among cases in cell morphology, karyotypic abnormalities, and clinical course. Trisomy 12, the most frequent karyotypic abnormality, is commonly found in a subset of CLL with atypical morphology. It has also been associated with advanced disease, and possibly with a less favorable prognosis. A further subset of cases with abnormalities involving chromosome 13q14 have typical lymphocyte morphology. Occasionally, the two abnormalities are found together. To assess the clonal history of the cell of origin in disease subsets defined by these two chromosomal abnormalities, we investigated the usage of VH genes and the pattern of somatic mutation in 10 cases of trisomy 12 with atypical morphology and eight cases of 13q14 abnormality with typical morphology. In addition, four cases with both chromosomal abnormalities were analyzed. Results confirm a common usage of the VH1 family in all subsets. However, the patterns of somatic mutation were distinct, with cases of trisomy 12 showing a minimal level of mutation (mean ± SD, 0.34% ± 0.86%) and cases of 13q14 abnormality showing significant levels (6.5% ± 1.67%). The four cases with both abnormalities showed a mixed pattern. All mutated cases had intraclonal homogeneity, and three of 10 had a pattern indicative of antigen selection. These results suggest that the clonal history of the two subsets of CLL may diffe

Unmutated immunoglobulin VH genes are associated with a more aggressive form of chronic lymphocyte leukemia

Despite having several characteristics of na??ve B cells, chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells have been shown in some cases to have somatically mutated Ig variable region genes, indicating that the cell of origin has passed through the germinal center. A previous study of patients with CLL found an association between lack of somatic mutation and trisomy 12 and, therefore, possibly with a less favorable prognosis. We have sequenced the Ig VH genes of the tumor cells of 84 patients with CLL and correlated our findings with clinical features. A total of 38 cases (45.2%) showed ? 98% sequence homology with the nearest germline VH gene; 46 cases (54.8%) showed >2% somatic mutation. Unmutated VH genes were significantly associated with V1-69 and D3-3 usage, with atypical morphology; isolated trisomy 12, advanced stage and progressive disease. Survival was significantly worse for patients with unmutated VH genes irrespective of stage. Median survival for stage A patients with unmutated VH genes was 95 months compared with 293 months for patients whose tumors had mutated VHgenes (P = .0008). The simplest explanation is that CLL comprises 2 different diseases with different clinical courses. One, arising from a memory B cell, has a benign course, the other, arising from a na??ve B cell, is more malignan