Abstract
Background: Patients with B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) often demonstrate variable responses to similar treatments. It would be highly desirable to develop a personalized therapeutic strategy for selection of appropriate drugs or regimens based on the drug sensitivity profiles of leukemic cells from individuals. Methods: We applied a multiparameter flow cytometric drug cytotoxicity assay to evaluate drug effects specifically on B-CLL cells from 43 individuals after leukemic cells were incubated in vitro with fludarabine, chlorambucil, cladribine, or prednisolone. Results: We demonstrated that different B-CLL cell populations from 43 individuals showed a marked variability in drug sensitivity. In vitro resistance to fludarabine was greatest in B-CLL cells with deletions of p53, a cytogenetic abnormality that is almost invariably associated with a poor therapeutic response clinically. Conclusions: In vitro drug sensitivity profiles analyzed by a multiparameter flow cytometric cytotoxicity assay may serve as a tool to facilitate individualized selection of appropriate drugs for treatment in B-CLL. Prospective trials will be needed to validate the clinical utility of this flow cytometric cytotoxicity assay.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 189-195 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Cytometry Part B - Clinical Cytometry |
Volume | 72 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 15 2007 |
Keywords
- Chronic lymphocytic leukemia
- Cytotoxicity assay
- Drug sensitivity
- Flow cytometry
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Pathology and Forensic Medicine
- Histology
- Cell Biology