Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Research

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a cancer of mature B lymphocytes that accumulates slowly in the blood, bone marrow, and lymph nodes, and researchers in its genetics subfield work to understand how specific genomic aberrations — such as mutations in the tumor suppressor gene TP53 or rearrangements in chromosomal regions — drive disease progression and shape a patient's prognosis. Targeted therapies like the BTK inhibitor ibrutinib and the monoclonal antibody rituximab have substantially improved outcomes, but resistance mechanisms tied to acquired mutations remain a pressing clinical problem. Active research is working to clarify which combinations of genomic features best predict who will respond to which treatment, and closely related B-cell malignancies such as Waldenström macroglobulinemia — which shares key mutations with CLL — offer additional vantage points for understanding how the same genetic lesions can produce distinct diseases.

Works

98,943

Total citations

1,192,400

Keywords

Chronic Lymphocytic LeukemiaGenomic AberrationsBTK InhibitorsRituximabIbrutinibPrognostic Factors