High expression of lymphocyte surface immunoglobulin in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia may be a bad prognostic sign.

Lymphocytes from 27 patients with B-type chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) were tested with immunofluorescence for expression of surface membrane immunoglobulin (SmIg) and the B cell antigen 7420. When age at time of testing, sex, clinical stage according to Binet, disease progression according to Levin and percentage of SmIg and 7420 antigen-expressing cells were used as explanatory variables for survival in a linear logistic regression model, only the SmIg variable was significant (p less than 0.025). A high proportion of SmIg bearing cells (greater than 61%) was associated with short survival, large tumour mass and aggressive disease. The tentative conclusion is drawn that the differentiation stage of the tumour cells in CLL determines the clinical course of the disease and is inversely correlated to the SmIg expression.