B-CELL ACTIVATION OF PERIPHERAL-BLOOD LYMPHOCYTES FROM PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC LYMPHATIC-LEUKEMIA

Abstract

The mitogenic response of blood lymphocytes from 12 patients with B[bone marrow-derived]-cell CLL [chronic lymphatic leukemia] and 7 healthy controls was investigated. All patients were untreated and had a typical B cell dominance in their peripheral blood. The patients demonstrated a scattered response pattern with a higher variance than in the control group. Examples of stimulation of DNA-synthesis by polyclonal B cell activators (PBA) and inhibition were demonstrated. The variable pattern between the patients might result from a malignant transformation of cells originating from different lymphocyte subupopulations in different patients. PBA studies of lympyocytes from CLL patients might be a valuable tool in characterizing further this clinically variable disease at the cellular level.