Angiogenesis in B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia: Methods of study, clinical significance and prognostic implications

Recent studies indicate that angiogenesis may be involved in the pathogenes is of certain hematological malignancies. However as far as B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is concerned, current data dealing with the eval uation of bone marrow (BM) microvessel density, a marker of angiogenesis gr ade, do not as yet provide definitive results. It is now clear that the mRN A isoforms VEGF121 and VEGF 165 are expressed by B-CLL cells. In addition, low cellular and high serum levels of VEGF correlated with a poor clinical outcome. Although these data do not as yet show that angiogenesis is essent ial for B-CLL, it may indeed be relevant in the leukemic process so charact eristic of this diseases.