CLL Foundations Flashcards
what are chronic lymphoproliferative disorders?
CLPD are a group of diseases arising from a malignant clonal proliferation of lymphocytes
CLPD usually involves proliferation of mature B cells and rarely T cells
the malignancy can involve peripheral blood, bone marrow, spleen, and/or lymph nodes and other lymphoid tissues
what are the types of disorders that classify as chronic lymphoproliferative disorders?
- chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL) - main one**
- hairy cell leukemia
- prolymphocytic leukemia
- large granulated lymphocyte leukemia
CLPD involves proliferation of what type of cells?
Mature B cells (and rarely, T cells)
what are the symptoms people with CLPD present with initially?
can be completely asymptomatic or present with lymphadenopathy, fevers/chills, night sweats, and/or weight loss
splenomegaly due to progressive growth of lymphatic tissue
in contrast to acute leukemia, these patients do not manifest the signs of bone marrow failure until late in the disease
what does the blood smear of someone with CLPD show?
- numerous lymphocytes
- leukocytosis
- smudge cells = lymphocytes that have been destroyed in the blood smear process
What cellular abnormalities are associated with CLL on a peripheral blood smear?
leukocytosis and smudge cells
how do you treat CLPD?
usually don’t cause pain, slow-growing and not immediately problematic
treatment is only required if symptoms of the lymphoproliferation are bothersome or progressive, and typically a “watch-and-wait” approach is taken
if you do have to treat it, then there are some drugs you can use to do so
what drugs are used to treat CLPD if you do have to treat it?
- chemotherapy
- radiation therapy
- monoclonal antibodies
- steroids
- ibrutinib (a small molecule inhibitor)
- idelalisib (works by inducing apoptosis)
- venetoclax (works by inducing programmed cell death)
what does ibrutinib do?
treats CLPD
a small molecule inhibitor
what does idelalisib do?
treats CLPD
works by inducing apoptosis
what does venetoclax do?
treats CLPD
works by inducing programmed cell death
What features of CLL/SLL make it the ‘poster child’ for chronic lymphoproliferative disorders?
CLL/SLL involves malignant clonal proliferation of mature lymphocytes, typically runs a prolonged and indolent course, and can involve the marrow, blood, or lymph nodes.
what is immunophenotyping?
a key diagnostic test used to differentiate the different lymphoproliferative disorders
how does immunophenotyping work?
it works is similar to a barcode scanner that reads a specific pattern of white and black lines to obtain details about a certain item in the grocery store
the same concept is used in medicine to identify unique proteins or antigens expressed by cells in order to classify them
antigens on the surface of leukemia cells are identified using special antibodies that bind to them specifically, allowing for their classification
the technique used is called flow cytometry immunophenotyping, which involves the measurement (-metry) of cellular (cyto-) properties as they are moving in a fluid stream (flow) past a fixed set of detectors
among the chronic lymphoproliferative disorders, specific disorders have characteristic cell surface markers. the detection of the specific groupings of cell surface proteins (labeled as CD for clusters of differentiation) on abnormal cells leads us to determine the specific type of leukemia or lymphoma
What does immunophynotyping detect on a test?
cell surface antigens
each disorder has its own immunophenotype!!!