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Jeremy S. Abramson, MD, MMSc
Jeremy S. Abramson, MD, MMSc
Posted: Monday, March 14, 2022
Research presented in the Annals of Hematology found that expression of the protein CD105 may indicate an elevated risk for patients with high-risk chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). In addition, CD105, a transforming growth factor beta co-receptor also known as endoglin, may serve as a target for immunotherapy.
“Flow cytometric analysis is a mainstay of CLL diagnostics, thus identification of novel prognostic surface markers can improve risk assessment without increasing burden for patients and physicians,” noted Jonas S. Heitmann, MD, of the University Hospital Tübingen, Germany, and colleagues.
Using flow cytometry, the study investigators analyzed the surface expression of CD105 in CLL cells from 71 patients. A total of 70.4% of evaluated patients had cells with detectable levels of CD105. Receiver operating characteristics were used to develop a 5.99% threshold to differentiate between low and high CD105 levels. High CD105 expression was found to be associated with CD38 expression, shorter time to first treatment, and decreased overall survival, suggesting that CD105 may play a role in accelerating disease progression. The correlation between high expression and adverse outcomes indicates that CD105 is a potential candidate for the development of targeted therapies.
“CD105 might serve as a novel prognostic marker in CLL, but confirmatory studies in larger patient cohorts and including multivariable analysis are necessary,” concluded the authors.
Disclosure: For full disclosures of the study authors, visit link.springer.com.
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