Frequency of Zap-70 and CD38 in Newly Diagnosed Cases of B-Cell Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

Abstract

Abstract: Introduction: Amongst all chronic lymphoproliferative disorders B-CLL is the most common. Clinical behavior of CLL is very variable and in order to identify the clinical spectrum there is a need for risk adaptive prognostic markers which will further facilitate in management strategy. Currently available molecular biomarkers ZAP-70 & CD-38 have gain much interest in providing useful prognostic information in patients diagnosed as B-CLL. Objective: To assess ZAP-70 and CD 38 positivity in patients diagnosed with B-CLL. Material & Methods: This was a cross sectional study conducted between Jan 2014 to July 2018 at NIBD, Karachi. Patients with B-CLL meeting the inclusion criteria were enrolled in the study. All patients gave informed consent. Immunophenotyping data analysis was done on FASC Calibur flowcytometry and Cell Quest software. We defined ZAP-70 and CD38 positivity as the presence of this marker on at least 20% and 30% of the B-CLL cells respectively. All required information was collected on pre designed Performa. Results: Total of 101 patients diagnosed as B-Cell CLL were included in the study. Median age of enrolled patients was 64 years (range 43-85 years). Majority of the patients i.e. 69 out of 101 (68.32%) were males and the rest 32 (31.68%) were female. ZAP-70 was positive in 2.97% of patients (03/101), while CD 38 positivity was detected in 33.66% (34/101).
Conclusion: ZAP-70 & CD-38 positivity was present in 2.97% & 33.66% of newly diagnosed B-CLL patients respectively. Screening for these biological markers in all newly diagnosed CLL patients will result in more dependable identification of disease clinical behavior.