cDNA microarray gene expression analysis of B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia proposes potential new prognostic markers involved in lymphocyte trafficking

Human cancer is characterized by complex molecular perturbations leading to variable clinical behavior, often even in single-disease entities. We perf ormed a feasibility study systematically comparing large-scale gene express ion profiles with clinical features in human B-cell chronic lymphocytic leu kemia (B-CLL). cDNA microarrays were employed to determine the expression l evels of 1,024 selected genes in 54 peripheral blood lymphocyte samples obt ained from patients with B-CLL. Statistical analyses were applied to correl ate the expression profiles with a number of clinical parameters including patient survival and disease staging. We were able to identify genes whose expression levels significantly correlated with patient survival and/or wit h clinical staging. Most of these genes code either for cell adhesion molec ules (L-selectin, integrin-beta2) or for factors inducing cell adhesion mol ecules (IL-I beta, IL-8, EGRI), suggesting that prognosis of this disease m ay be related to a defect in lymphocyte trafficking. This report demonstrat es the feasibility of a systematic integration of large scale gene expressi on profiles with clinical data as a general approach for dissecting human d iseases. (C) 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.