Genome-wide DNA analysis identifies recurrent imbalances predicting outcome in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia with 17p deletion

Deletion of 17p (TP53) identifies a rare subset of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (17p- CLL) with aggressive behaviour. Genome-wide DNA-profiling was performed to investigate 18 patients with 17p- CLL. All cases had multiple copy-number (CN) changes. Among the several recurrent CN changes identified, 8q24.13-q24.1-gain (MYC), 8p-loss (TNFRSF10A/B, also known as TRAIL1/2) and 2p16.1-p14-gain (REL/BCL11A) appeared frequently represented. 8p-loss and 2p16.1-p14-gain also appeared clinically relevant and predicted significant shorter time from diagnosis to treatment (8p-loss) and overall survival (8p-loss and 2p16.1-p14-gain, P < 0.05). These observations document a highly unstable genome in 17p- CLL and suggest that additional genes outside the TP53 locus may be important for tumour behaviour.