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13.2: Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL)

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    38843
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    Cell Features:1-4

    Abundant small mature small lymphocytes

    Scant Cytoplasm

    Condensed/clumped chromatin (often described as “soccer ball” or “parched earth” appearance)

    Cause:1-4

    A mature B cell neoplasm with no specific agent or cause. Cytogenetic findings show relation to trisomy 12 and other chromosomal deletions.

    Age group affected: Mainly older adults >50 years old.1,5,6

    Laboratory Features for CLL:1,2,6

    CBC:

    Normochromic, Normocytic Anemia

    Normal to Decreased reticulocyte count

    Neutropenia

    Thrombocytopenia

    PBS:

    Small mature lymphocytes

    Presence of smudge cells

    Platelet and granulocyte morphology is normal

    BM:

    Lymphocytic infiltration, reduced numbers of normal hematopietic cells

    Immunologic markers:

    CD5, CD19, CD20, CD23

    Other useful tests:

    FISH

    PCR

    Associated with hypogammaglobulinemia


    References:

    1. Holmer LD, Bueso-Ramos CE. Chronic lymphocytic leukemia and related lymphoproliferative disorders. In: Clinical hematology and fundamentals of hemostasis. 5th ed. Philadelphia: F.A. Davis Company; 2009. p. 440-65.

    2. Czader M. Mature lymphoid neoplasms. In: Rodak’s hematology clinical applications and principles. 5th ed. St. Louis, Missouri: Saunders; 2015. p. 619-41.

    3. Kipps TJ, Stevenson FK, Wu CJ, Croce CM, Packham G, Wierda WG, et al. Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. Nat Rev Dis Prim [Internet]. 2017 Jan 19 [cited 2018 Jun 27];3:16096. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5336551/

    4. Swerdlow SH, Campo E, Harris NL, Jaffe ES, Pileri SA, Stein H, et al. editors. WHO Classification of Tumours of Haematopoietic and Lymphoid Tissues Volume 2. 4th ed. International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC); 2008.

    5. McKenzie SB. Introduction to hematopoietic neoplasms. In: Clinical laboratory hematology. 3rd ed. New Jersey: Pearson; 2015. p. 424-45.

    6. Turgeon ML. Malignant myeloid and monocytic disorders and plasma cell dyscrasias. In: Clinical hematology: theory and procedures. 4th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 1999. p. 275-92.


    This page titled 13.2: Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) is shared under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Valentin Villatoro and Michelle To (Open Education Alberta) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.