Dan-Xia Zhu

Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Sheng, China

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Publications (30)43.59 Total impact

  • Article: Serum microRNAs are promising novel biomarkers for diffuse large B cell lymphoma.
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    ABSTRACT: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are regulatory RNA molecules that are deregulated in many disease types, including cancer. Recently, miRNAs have shown promise as markers for cancer diagnosis. The aim of this study was to investigate whether serum miRNAs can be used as biomarkers for the detection of diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL). We measured the levels of miRNAs (miR-15a, miR-16-1, miR-21, miR-29c, miR-34a, miR-155, and miR-223) in serum samples from patients with DLBCL and healthy controls using real-time quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). We show here that miRNAs are present in human serum in a remarkably stable form. Four of miRNAs (miR-15a, miR-16-1, miR-29c, and miR-155) were significantly elevated in DLBCL serum when compared with normal controls (P < 0.05), while miR-34a was downregulated in DLBCL serum when compared with controls (P < 0.05). Receiver operating characteristic analyses reflects strong discriminating DLBCL from controls, with area under the curves of 0.7722, 0.7002, 0.6672, 0.8538, and 0.7157 for miR-15a, miR-16-1, miR-29c, miR-34a, and miR-155, respectively. At the cut-off value of 0.0006 for miR-15a, the sensitivity was 80% and the specificity was 76%; at the cut-off value of 0.0886 for miR-16-1, the sensitivity was 94% and the specificity was 51%; at the cut-off value of 1.395 for miR-34a, the sensitivity was 100% and the specificity was 70%; at the cut-off value of 0.0022 for miR-155, the sensitivity was 83% and the specificity was 65%. In conclusion, these data suggest that serum miRNAs are potentially useful tools as novel noninvasive biomarker for the diagnosis of DLBCL.
    Annals of Hematology 04/2012; 91(4):553-9. · 2.62 Impact Factor
  • Article: Quantification of ZAP-70 mRNA by real-time PCR is a prognostic factor in chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
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    ABSTRACT: Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is heterogeneous with respect to prognosis and clinical outcome. Mutational status of immunoglobulin heavy chain variable region (IGHV) appears to be a particularly strong prognostic marker, but it is difficult to perform in a routine clinical laboratory. ζ-chain-associated protein kinase 70 kDa (ZAP-70) protein detected by flow cytometry is a strong surrogate marker of IGHV mutational status; however, it suffers from the lack of standardization. We investigated whether ZAP-70 mRNA expression level can be a prognostic factor in CLL. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to analyze ZAP-70 mRNA expression from 102 CLL patients. The expression of ZAP-70 mRNA was significantly associated with Binet stage (P < 0.001), lactate dehydrogenase (P = 0.003), ZAP-70 protein (P = 0.018), IGHV mutational status (P = 0.038), and cytogenetic abnormality of del(17p13) or del(11q22.3) (P = 0.037) in CLL patients. According to receiver operating characteristic curve analysis for ZAP-70 mRNA and ZAP-70 protein, positive ZAP-70 mRNA (P = 0.006) was an adverse factor in determining the treatment free survival (TFS). In a multivariate Cox analysis of TFS, ZAP-70 mRNA is not ideal as an independent prognostic factor. However, ZAP-70 mRNA was statistically significant in predicting treatment response. This study demonstrated the value of determination of ZAP-70 mRNA in providing useful prognostic information in CLL patients. However, ZAP-70 mRNA is not an independent prognostic factor.
    Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology 02/2012; 138(6):1011-7. · 2.56 Impact Factor
  • Article: Richter transformation in 16 of 149 Chinese patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
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    ABSTRACT: No confirmed risk factors are known to predict Richter syndrome (RS), and the value of clinical prognosticators conventionally applied to chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is not firmly established in this setting. The objective of this study was to present evidence for RS in Chinese patients with CLL and risk factors for CLL transformation to Richter syndrome. With a median follow-up of 43 months from CLL diagnosis in 149 Chinese patients, 16 (10.7%) patients progressed to diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). According to correlation analysis, a high level of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and CD38 positivity were found to be independent predictors of transformation to RS. Survival analysis showed that presence of RS, advanced Binet stage, high level of LDH, high level of β(2)-microglobulin, high concentration of thymidine kinase (TK), ZAP-70 and CD38 expression, unmutated immunoglobulin heavy chain variable (IGHV) gene status and del(17p13) were adverse factors in determining overall survival (OS). Only del(17p13) was strongly associated with survival by multivariate Cox regression analysis. Median OS after transformation was 16 months (95% confidence interval, 5.6-26.4 months). The results support that RS is associated with a poor outcome, and a policy of close monitoring and careful biopsy is needed in patients carrying transformation risk factors.
    Leukemia & lymphoma 02/2012; 53(9):1749-56. · 2.40 Impact Factor
  • Article: Downregulated Dicer expression predicts poor prognosis in chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
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    ABSTRACT: Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the most common leukemia in the western world. Alterations in microRNAs (miRNAs) expression have been proposed to play a role in CLL pathogenesis. Dicer and Drosha are the main regulators of miRNA biogenesis, and deregulation of their expression has been indicated as a possible cause of miRNA alterations observed in various cancers. To investigate the role of Dicer and Drosha in CLL, we assessed the expression of Dicer and Drosha and their correlation with other prognostic factors, including Binet stages, immunoglobulin heavy chain variable gene (IGHV) mutation status, TP53 mutation status, ZAP-70 protein and CD38 expression level in 165 CLL patients by using real-time polymerase chain reaction methods. Patients with unmutated IGHV genes had significantly lower expression of Dicer than patients with IGHV mutations. The lower expression level of Dicer was also significantly associated with higher level of CD38 and ZAP-70, and more aggressive Binet stage. We also analyzed Dicer expression in different cytogenetic subgroups. Lower Dicer level was found in patients with unfavorable cytogenetic aberrations (deletion in 17p13 or 11q22.3) in contrast to higher level in good risk cytogenetics (deletion in 13q14 as the sole abnormality). Furthermore, the lower expression of Dicer in CLL shows a strong association with shorter overall survival (OS) (P = 0.0046) as well as with reduced treatment free survival (TFS) (P = 0.0006). By contrast, no differences in the expression of Drosha among these groups of patients were observed. Our data suggest that Dicer expression may play an important role in the progression and prognosis of CLL.
    Cancer Science 02/2012; 103(5):875-81. · 3.33 Impact Factor
  • Article: Distinctive microRNA signature is associated with the diagnosis and prognosis of acute leukemia.
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    ABSTRACT: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are of great importance in pathogenesis, diagnosis and prognosis of acute leukemia (AL). We studied five AL-related miRNAs to confirm the significance of these miRNAs in AL. Samples tested included acute myeloid leukemia (AML), 107 cases; acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), 40 cases. Five AL-related miRNAs: miR-128, let-7b, miR-223, miR-181a and miR-155 expression were detected by qRT-PCR. Analysis showed that miRNA-128 expression was significantly higher in ALL (P < 0.001). However, the let-7b and miR-223 expressions in ALL were significantly lower than in AML (P < 0.001). Compared with normal controls, miR-128 expression was significantly higher in ALL (P < 0.001), but there was no significant difference in AML (P = 0.900). The expressions of Let-7b and miR-223 in AL group were higher than in normal controls (P < 0.001). MiR-181a was quantitatively detected in 107 AML patients, and we found that the expression of miR181a in M1 or M2 patients was significantly higher compared with it in M4 or M5 (P = 0.013). According to karyotype, 84 cases of AML were classified into three groups named favorable, moderate and poor. It was found that the expression of miR-181a in favorable prognosis group was significantly lower than in poor prognosis group (P = 0.015). In FLT3-ITD mutation positive patients, the miR-155 expression was significantly higher than in the negative group (P = 0.002). These results support that miR-128, let-7b, miR-223 and miR181a have a diagnosis value in AL, while miR-181a and miR-155 are of great prognostic significance in AML.
    Medical Oncology 12/2011; 29(4):2323-31. · 2.14 Impact Factor
  • Article: TP53 mutation is not an independent prognostic factor in patients with mantle cell lymphoma at advanced stage.
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    ABSTRACT: Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is incurable in most patients. Several molecular markers have been identified as possible prognostic factors in MCL, including TP53 mutations. Direct sequencing was used to detect 32 cases with leukemic presentation of MCL form exons 2-11 in order to explore the prognostic significance of TP53 mutations in Chinese patients. Within the MCL cohort, 6(18.8%) patients harbored TP53 mutations. TP53 mutations in the absence of del(17p13) were found in 5.0% of MCL cases (1 of 20) compared with 83.3% of MCL cases (5 of 6) with del(17p13). Compared with patients without TP53 mutations, TP53 mutations were associated with risk factors including age, higher serum lactate dehydrogenase, lymphocytosis, high-risk (HR) international prognostic index, HR mantle cell lymphoma international prognostic index, complex karyotype, and higher occurrence of TP53 deletions. In contrast, it is found that TP53 mutations were correlated with mutated immunoglobulin heavy-chain variable region status and CD38 negative. TP53 mutations were the significant factors in predicting survival in univariate analysis, but unfortunately they were not the unique variable associated with overall survival by multivariate Cox regression analysis. TP53 mutation was insufficiently an independent prognostic factor in patients with MCL at advanced stage.
    Medical Oncology 11/2011; 29(3):2166-73. · 2.14 Impact Factor
  • Article: [mRNA levels detected by real-time quantitative RT-PCR in chronic lymphocytic leukemia and their clinical significance].
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    ABSTRACT: This study was aimed to investigate the expression level of murine double minute 4 (MDM4) mRNA in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and its prognostic value in CLL. By means of β-actin as internal reference, the real-time quantitative RT-PCR was set up. The expression of MDM4 mRNA in 66 CLL patients was measured by fluorescence dye SYBR Green I. The dispersion of MDM4 expression ratio of groups with different prognostic factors was described by using Mann-Whitney U test. The results showed that the median MDM4 mRNA expression level was 0.037098 (0.088245-0.014875) in CLL patients. The expression level of MDM4 mRNA was significantly higher in patients with P53 gene deletion than that in patients without P53 gene deletion (0.13167 vs 0.030927) (p < 0.001), and also significantly higher in patients with P53 mutation than that in patients without P53 mutation (0.13167 vs 0.03077) (p < 0.001). MDM4 expression was also associated with Binet stages (p = 0.044) and ATM gene deletion (p = 0.046), but was not associated with LDH (p = 0.216), β(2)-MG (p = 0.314), TK1 (p = 0.300), ZAP-70 (p = 0.559), CD38 (p = 0.513) and IgVH mutation status (p = 0.333). It is concluded that the expression level of MDM4 is significantly higher in patients with P53 deletion or mutation. MDM4 expression is significantly associated with Binet stages and ATM gene deletion. MDM4 may be an important prognostic factor in CLL.
    Zhongguo shi yan xue ye xue za zhi / Zhongguo bing li sheng li xue hui = Journal of experimental hematology / Chinese Association of Pathophysiology 10/2011; 19(5):1145-9.
  • Article: MDM2 promoter SNP309 is associated with an increased susceptibility to chronic lymphocytic leukemia and correlates with MDM2 mRNA expression in Chinese patients with CLL.
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    ABSTRACT: A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) at position 309 in the promoter region of MDM2 leading to increased expression of MDM2 and attenuated function of p53 has recently been suggested as an unfavorable prognostic marker in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) although this has been questioned. The MDM2 SNP309 genotypes in 173 CLL patients and 260 healthy controls were detected by the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method, which was confirmed by direct DNA sequencing. Compared with the T/T genotype, the SNP309 G/G genotype instead of T/G heterozygote was associated with a significantly increased risk of CLL (OR = 2.84; 95% CI 1.61-5.03; p < 0.001). Age at onset of CLL was similar irrespective of MDM2 status. MDM2 mRNA expression within CLL of G/G genotype was significantly higher than that in T/G (p = 0.009) and T/T genotypes (p < 0.001). Excluding patients with p53 deletions or mutations enhanced the significance of the findings (G/G vs. T/T, p < 0.001; G/G vs. T/G p = 0.001), which prompted us to study the role of the polymorphism in p53 wild-type individuals. In the p53 wild-type groups, survival analysis showed that the patients with MDM2 SNP309 G/G and T/G genotypes both had significantly shorter treatment-free survival (TFS) than SNP309 T/T genotype. Notably, univariate and multivariate analyses showed that MDM2 SNP309 genotypes were associated with TFS. These data show that MDM2 309G polymorphisms contribute to the risk of developing CLL. The unfavorable MDM2 SNP309 G/G genotype was associated with an increase of MDM2 mRNA expression. MDM2 SNP309 was found to be associated with TFS in p53 wild-type Chinese CLL populations.
    International Journal of Cancer 06/2011; 130(9):2054-61. · 5.44 Impact Factor
  • Article: Enhancing the action of rituximab by adding fresh frozen plasma for the treatment of fludarabine refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
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    ABSTRACT: Complement deficiencies have been identified in many chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients. Supplying fresh frozen plasma (FFP)-derived complement can enhance complement-dependent cell lysis by the rituximab. The objective of our study was to evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of the treatment by adding FFP to rituximab in fludarabine refractory CLL patients. Twenty-two patients were treated with two units of FFP followed with rituximab, 375 mg/m(2), as a single agent, repeated every 1-2 weeks. Patients received a median of four courses of the combined FFP and rituximab treatment (range: 2-6). Sixteen patients (72.7%) responded to treatment and seven (31.8%) achieved a complete remission. Three (13.6%) of which had no evidence of minimal residual disease after treatment. Patients with high expression of ZAP-70 or CD38, unmutated immunoglobulin heavy chain variable region, mutated p53, or adverse cytogenetic features, achieved response to treatment at rates that appeared similar to those who did not have such characteristics. With a median follow-up of 12 (4-19) months, the median overall survival and progression free survival have not been achieved. Toxicity was minimal, and the treatment was well tolerated. Our data suggest that the adding FFP to rituximab is an effective nonmyelotoxic regimen for the treatment of fludarabine refractory CLL patients.
    International Journal of Cancer 05/2011; 128(9):2192-201. · 5.44 Impact Factor
  • Article: The expression of SOX11, cyclin D1, cyclin D2, and cyclin D3 in B-cell lymphocytic proliferative diseases.
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    ABSTRACT: SOX11 is mainly correlated with embryo neurogenesis and remodeling of tissues. D cyclins (cyclin D1, cyclin D2, and cyclin D3) work in cell transformation. We assessed the expression of SOX11, cyclin D1, cyclin D2, and cyclin D3 mRNA in 152 patients with B-cell lymphocytic proliferative diseases (B-LPD) using qRT-PCR and we detected SOX11 protein using immunohistochemistry in 15 B-LPD patients, to clarify the clinical significance of the four genes in B-LPD. Data showed the transcriptional levels of SOX11 and cyclin D1 were higher for the mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) samples compared with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), hairy cell leukemia (HCL), splenic marginal zone lymphoma (SMZL), and healthy collators. The expression levels of cyclin D1 and cyclin D2 were both higher in DLBCL than in SMZL. The expression levels of the four genes were highly related to each other. Three of 4 MCL patients showed nuclear staining for SOX11, while other 11 B-LPD examples were negative. Furthermore, we also found the ZAP70-positive CLL patients had higher SOX11 expression levels than ZAP70-negative CLL patients. It was revealed that MCL patients have higher expression levels of SOX11 and cyclin D1 mRNA, specially expressed nuclear SOX11 protein.
    Medical Oncology 04/2011; 29(2):1190-6. · 2.14 Impact Factor
  • Article: Intermediate prognosis of 6q deletion in chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
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    ABSTRACT: Cytogenetic features have an important role in the definition of distinct disease subsets in CLL. The deletion of 6q is known to occur at a relatively low frequency in CLL, and the detailed analysis of hematologic and clinical features of patients with CLL with 6q deletion is limited. To verify the incidence and prognostic significance of 6q deletion in Chinese patients with CLL, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was used in 240 patients with CLL. del(6q23) was found in 18 patients (7.5%), and only five patients had deletion in 6q23 as the sole abnormality. Strong correlations between del(6q23) and clinical parameters were not found. A difference in terms of survival in patients with del(6q23) as compared with patients without this anomaly was not able to be demonstrated. However, a significant difference was found when comparing the del(6q23) group with the del(17p13) or del(11q22.3) group (p = 0.023), or isolated del(13q14) group (p = 0.019). Our findings place the del(6q23) cytogenetic subset of CLL in an intermediate prognosis position between patients with del(11q22.3) or del(17p13), and patients with isolated del(13q14). FISH probes to detect deletions of 6q might be useful in clinical practice in the work-up of patients with CLL.
    Leukemia & lymphoma 02/2011; 52(2):230-7. · 2.40 Impact Factor
  • Article: Prognostic significance of serum immunoglobulin paraprotein in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
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    ABSTRACT: The aim of this study was to explore the clinical and other associated laboratory features of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients with immunoglobulin (Ig) paraproteinemia. Serum protein electrophoresis (SPE) and immunofixation electrophoresis (IFE) were performed to measure serum Ig paraprotein. The correlations between serum Ig paraprotein and other prognostic factors were analyzed. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were used to assess associations between survival time and potential risk factors. In 133 Chinese CLL patients, 27 (20.3%) patients occurred Ig paraproteinemia at diagnosis. According to the correlation analysis, advanced Binet stage (r=0.314, P<0.001), direct antiglobulin test (DAT)-positive (r=0.366, P<0.001), high level of serum β2-microglobulin (β2-MG) (r=0.296, P=0.001) and thymidine kinase (TK) 1 (r=0.227, P=0.037), unmutated immunoglobulin heavy chain variable gene (IGHV) status (r=0.284, P=0.002), ZAP-70-positive (r=0.305, P=0.001), CD38-positive (r=0.284, P=0.002), and cytogenetic abnormalities of del(17p13) or del(11q22.3) (r=0.208, P=0.032) emerged as factors significantly related to the occurrence of Ig paraproteinemia. Survival analysis showed that the patients with Ig paraproteinemia had significantly shorter survival times than the patients without serum Ig paraprotein (P=0.013). Binet stage (P=0.028), high levels of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) (P=0.004), IgG paraproteinemia (P=0.048), IgM paraproteinemia (P=0.001), ZAP-70-positive (P=0.003), DAT-positive (P=0.013), unmutated IGHV status (P=0.009), and del(17p13) (P=0.001) were the adverse factors in determining overall survival (OS). Del(17p13) (P=0.006), ZAP-70 (P=0.030), and IgM paraproteinemia (P=0.040) were the variables strongly associated with OS by multivariate Cox regression analysis. It was showed that serum Ig paraprotein might be applied for the assessment of prognosis in patients with CLL.
    Leukemia research 01/2011; 35(8):1060-5. · 2.36 Impact Factor
  • Article: [Expression of cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase 7B in patients with mantle cell lymphoma and its prognostic significance].
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    ABSTRACT: To investigate the expression level of cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase (PDE) 7B mRNA and its prognostic value in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), the real-time quantitative RT-PCR (QPCR) was used to detect pde7b expression levels of bone marrow mononuclear cells from 20 newly diagnosed MCL patients with bone marrow involvement and peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 20 normal persons, the association of pde7b expression levels with prognostic indexes was analyzed by statistical software. The results showed that the median values of pde7b mRNA expression level in 20 MCL patients and normal controls were 8.7 × 10(-4) (4 × 10(-5) - 6.9 × 10(-3)) and 0.5 × 10(-4)(0.18 × 10(-4) - 1.7 × 10(-4)) respectively (p = 0.001). No association was found between pde7b expression and patients' clinical baseline information (gender and age), as well as certain prognostic factors, leukocyte count, lactate dehydrogenase level, CD38 expression and immunoglobulin heavy-chain variable region mutation status, but pde7b mRNA expression was significantly associated with cytogenetic abnormality, β(2)-microglobulin level and ZAP-70 expression. It is concluded that the pde7b mRNA expression is obviously higher in MCL patients compared with normal controls and significantly correlates with unfavorable cytogenetic characteristics in MCL. The pde7b may be used as a novel prognostic indicator in MCL, and has important clinical significance.
    Zhongguo shi yan xue ye xue za zhi / Zhongguo bing li sheng li xue hui = Journal of experimental hematology / Chinese Association of Pathophysiology 01/2011; 19(1):94-9.
  • Article: [Efficacy of chemoimmunotherapy with fludarabine, cyclophosphamide and rituximab for chronic lymphocytic leukemia].
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    ABSTRACT: To evaluate the efficacy of combination chemoimmunotherapy of fludarabine, cyclophosphamide and rituximab (FCR) in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Twenty-one patients with CLL were treated with FCR regimen which consisted of fludarabine (25 mg/m(2), days 2 to 4), cyclophosphamide (250 mg/m(2), days 2 to 4) and rituximab (375 mg/m(2), day 1) in a course of 28 days. The minimal residual disease (MRD) was determined by multiparameter flow cytometry. The correlation between the pretreatment characteristics and complete remission (CR) rate was analyzed. Eleven patients (52.4%) achieved CR, 7 (33.3%) achieved partial remission (PR) with a overall response (OR) rate of 85.7%. With a median follow-up time of 19 (7 - 73) months, the overall survival (OS) was 86.0%, and the progression-free survival (PFS) was 72.0%. Pretreatment parameters independently associated with higher CR rates were Binet stage A + B, IgVH mutated and ZAP-70 less than 20%. MRD was less than 1% in 6 patients. The most common toxicities were myelosuppression and gastrointestinal reaction. FCR is an effective regimen for CLL patients.
    Zhonghua xue ye xue za zhi = Zhonghua xueyexue zazhi 01/2011; 32(1):3-7.
  • Article: [Large granular lymphocytic leukemia].
    Dan-xia Zhu, Wei Xu, Jian-yong Li
    Zhonghua xue ye xue za zhi = Zhonghua xueyexue zazhi 01/2011; 32(1):64-7.
  • Article: Aberrant microRNA expression in Chinese patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
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    ABSTRACT: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small endogenous RNAs that play important regulatory roles by targeting mRNAs for cleavage or translational repression. Many reports have indicated that miRNAs play a critical role in malignancies, and regulations in the progression of leukemia. However, the miRNAs expression level in Chinese patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), and its prognostic value remain elusive. We identified various degrees of down-regulation of miR-15a, miR-16-1, miR-29b, miR-181a and miR-181b in CLL mononuclear cells. Moreover, we have identified miR-29b and miR-181a/b expression significantly correlated with IGHV mutational status. Transcript levels of predicted target genes BCL-2 and TCL-1 were also determined, and the expression levels were significantly upregulated in CLL patients compared with normal controls (P<0.001). Higher expression of TCL-1 was significantly correlated with aggressive disease features. In addition, an inverse correlation was observed in the CLL samples we examined between miRNAs (miR-16-1, miR-181a, miR-181b) and BCL-2 level; furthermore, an inverse correlation was also observed between miRNAs (miR-16-1, miR-181a, miR-181b) and TCL-1, which suggest that these miRNAs may implicate in negatively regulating target mRNA at transcriptional level. These different miRNAs may play an important role in the pathogenesis of CLL and might be applied for the assessment of prognosis in patients with CLL.
    Leukemia research 12/2010; 35(6):730-4. · 2.36 Impact Factor
  • Article: The prognostic significance of TP53 mutations in Chinese patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia is independent of del(17p13).
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    ABSTRACT: The poor prognosis of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients with del(17p13) is well established. Several studies have shown that cases with TP53 mutations and TP53 mutations without del(17p13) may be adverse prognostic factors. We studied 173 well-characterized CLL patients by direct sequencing to detect TP53 mutations (exons 2-11). TP53 mutations were detected in 14.5% (25 of 173) of samples. Most patients with del(17p13) had TP53 mutations (72.2%). Mutations in the absence of del(17p13) were found in 8.3% in our cohort, which were higher than other countries. Compared with cases without TP53 alterations, TP53 mutations and deletions were both associated with advanced stages and unmutated immunoglobulin heavy-chain variable region status. Survival analysis showed that the occurrence of TP53 mutations and del(17p13) were associated with shorter overall survival (OS), treatment-free survival (TFS), and resistance to chemotherapy. TP53 mutations were the variables strongly associated with OS and TFS by multivariate Cox regression analysis. Moreover, we also found that cases with TP53 mutations in the absence of del(17p13) had a similar clinical and biological course and similar poor short OS as cases carrying del(17p13) in Chinese patients with CLL.
    Annals of Hematology 11/2010; 90(6):709-17. · 2.62 Impact Factor
  • Article: [Clinical and biological features of 8 patients with Richter's syndrome].
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    ABSTRACT: In order to evaluate the clinical, biological features and prognostic factors of Richter's syndrome (RS), 8 RS patients were analyzed retrospectively. The serological test, multiplex parameter flow cytometry, conventional cytogenetic analysis, FISH technique and PCR combined with sequence detection were used to detect the LDH, β(2)-MG, TK1, SF, CA125, ZAP-70, chromosome karyotype, ATM and p53 gene deletion, as well as +12 abnormality and IgVH mutation. The results indicated that 7 out of 8 patients transformed to diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and 1 patient transformed to Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). Among 8 patients, LDH level in 7 patients, β(2)-MG level in 4 patients, SF level in 7 patients, CA-125 level in 4 patients and TK1 level in 1 patient exceeded the normal range. Meanwhile, ZAP-70 and CD38 were expressed positively in 4 and 7 out of 8 patients respectively. Unmutated IgVH was found in 5 patients, and 4 patients had the complex chromosome abnormalities. +12 and p53 deletion was found in 1 patient. 8 patients were divided into two groups (Binet A + B and Binet C), the mean time from diagnosis to progression was 98.5 months in Binet A + B group, compared with 38.3 months in Binet C group, there was significant difference between two groups (p = 0.021). Mean overall survival was 123.8 months and 49.8 months in two groups, respectively (p = 0.049). The mean survival after transformation was 34.5 months in Binet A + B group and 10.3 months in Binet C group. In conclusion, the level of LDH, β(2)-MG and SF are higher in RS patients in Binet C group, and so are the incidence of high expressed ZAP-70 and CD 38, unmutated IgVH. The clinical stage may be the risk and prognostic factors for RS transformation.
    Zhongguo shi yan xue ye xue za zhi / Zhongguo bing li sheng li xue hui = Journal of experimental hematology / Chinese Association of Pathophysiology 11/2010; 18(6):1499-504.
  • Article: [Cytogenetics of chronic lymphocytic leukemia stimulated by CpG-oligodeoxynucleotides and IL-2].
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    ABSTRACT: This study was to explore the stimulating effect of CpG-oligodeoxynucleotides (CpG-ODN) in combination with interleukin-2 (IL-2) on cytogenetic features of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells. Peripheral blood or bone marrow cells of 115 patients with CLL were cultured for 72 hours with CpG-ODN plus interleukin-2 (IL-2), and routine karyotype analysis was performed with R-banding technique. The metaphase number≥20 was considered as successful stimulation. The results showed that among the 115 CLL patients, successful stimulation rate was 74.8%. The rate of chromosome aberrations was 58.1%. One kind of aberration was detected in 21 cases (24.4%), two kinds of aberration in 6 cases (7.0%), complex aberrant karyotype in 23 cases (26.7%), included highly complex aberrant karyotype in 9 cases (10.5%), respectively. A total of 163 abnormalities of 102 kinds were detected in 86 patients. Number aberrations were 116 (71.2%), and structural abnormalities were 47 (28.8%). The most frequent number aberration was trisomy 12 (14.0%), and structural aberration was 15q+ (5.8%). It is concluded that most of CLL patients have chromosome abnormality, and the number abnormality are more frequent than the structural aberrations. CpG-ODN plus IL-2 can effectively raise the number of cells at metaphase and the detection rate of chromosome aberrations in CLL patients.
    Zhongguo shi yan xue ye xue za zhi / Zhongguo bing li sheng li xue hui = Journal of experimental hematology / Chinese Association of Pathophysiology 10/2010; 18(5):1114-8.
  • Article: High-dose methylprednisolone can induce remissions in patients with fludarabine-refractory chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.
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    ABSTRACT: To evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of high-dose methylprednisolone (HDMP) in patients with fludarabine-refractory chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL). Twelve patients who were refractory to fludarabine-based treatment were treated with 2-6 cycles of HDMP (1g/m(2) for 5days). Ten patients (83.3%) responded to treatment and three (25.0%) achieved a complete remission (CR). Two (16.7%) of which had no evidence of minimal residual disease (MRD) after treatment. Patients with leukaemia cells that have high expression of ZAP-70 or CD38, unmutated immunoglobulin heavy chain variable region (IGHV), mutated p53 or adverse cytogenetic features achieved response to treatment at rates that appeared similar to those achieved by patients who did not have such disease characteristics. With a median follow-up of 13 (4-30) months, the median overall survival (OS) and the progression-free survival (PFS) have not been achieved. Treatment with HDMP was well tolerated, notably in the patients having poor myeloid reserve and pretreated cytopaenias. HDMP is an effective non-myelotoxic regimen for the treatment of patients with fludarabine-refractory CLL.
    European journal of cancer (Oxford, England: 1990) 08/2010; 46(12):2145-9. · 4.12 Impact Factor