Levels of soluble CD[44] and IFN-gamma in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia

ABSTRACT

The aim of the present study was to estimate the levels of sCD[44] and IFN-gamma in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia in order to evaluate any possible correlation between them and their clinical significance. The present study was carried out on 22 patients recently diagnosed as CLL and 10 healthy subjects as a control group. They were subjected to history taking, clinical examination, complete blood picture and bone marrow aspiration and immunophenotyping to confirm diagnosis. Estimation of the levels of sCD44 and IFN-gamma in serum and in cultured PBMCs supernatants was done by ELISA. The serum levels of sCD[44] and IFN-gamma were significantly increased in patients as compared to the controls [p < 0.001, p< 0.0001 respectively]. High levels of serum CD[44] and IFN-gamma were associated with advanced stages of disease. While in culture, whether with or without mitogen sCD[44] was lower and IFN-gamma higher than their serum levels. We concluded that the serum levels of sCD[44] and IFN-gamma are valuable and delicate tumor markers in patients with CLL. The study should be pursued after treatment of these patients in order to elucidate the potential role of these markers in monitoring disease status and response to therapy