Protein Biomarkers for Diagnosis and Treatment of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL)

Brief Description: Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a disease that leads to the fatal accumulation of B cells. It is the most common adult leukemia. The cause of CLL is unknown and there are no animal models of this disease. There are two forms of CLL, indolent and aggressive. Patients with aggressive CLL should immediately undergo chemotherapy but patients with the indolent form should not be treated. Currently there are no biomarkers that enable the facile distinction of the two forms of CLL and, consequently, patients do not always receive the appropriate treatment.

UC San Diego investigators have developed a biomarker discovery-platform based on the integration of quantitative protein-mass spectrometry with systems biology. By analyzing blood cells from patients with CLL, more than 700 proteins were identified that distinguished normal B cells from those in diseased individuals. Of these, investigators have identified more than 50 biomarkers that distinguish aggressive from indolent CLL. Platform validation has been performed using antibodies directed against some of the biomarkers. Application of the platform to other diseases should reveal biomarkers that help explain the causes of disease, provide both diagnostic and therapeutic targets, and permit surrogate therapeutic-endpoints to be defined and monitored.

Advantages: These biomarkers could be developed into a CLL diagnostic kit, permitting stratification of the patient population into CLL subtypes (indolent, intermediate, and aggressive) so that the appropriate course of therapy can be chosen for each individual. It could also be used to monitor disease progression and patient response to therapy so that efficacy and therapeutic endpoints can be observed.

In addition to being potential biomarkers for distinguishing aggressive CLL from indolent CLL, these biomarkers also have potential as therapeutic drug targets.

Keywords: chronic lymphocytic leukemia, CLL

Patent Information: pending

Case Number: SD2009-033

Inquiries To: invent@ucsd.edu