Microsatellite instability in patients with chronic B-cell lymphocytic leukaemia

The purpose of our study was to evaluate the microsatellite instability (MSI) at selected loci with known involvement in the oncogenesis of chronic B-cell lymphocytic leukaemia (B-CLL). DNA from B cells (tumour cells) and from T cells (normal controls) of 27 samples of 26 patients with previously untreated B-CLL was extracted. Microsatellite instability in six microsatellite markers was tested using GeneScan Analysis Software. The rate of replication errors positive phenotype (RER+) was determined (MSI in more than 30% of examined loci). RER+ was found in four out of 27 paients (14.8%). A larger proportion of patients with stage C B-CLL exhibited RER+ than those with stage A or B (P<0.05). A higher prevalence of RER+ was demonstrated in a subgroup of patients with additional malignancies (three out of eight patients) in comparison with patients with B-CLL alone (1/19) (P = 0.031). In conclusion, our study demonstrated that MSI might have a more prominent role in pathogenesis of B-CLL than reported todate. This may result from a selection of microsatellite markers adjacent to chromosomal loci, which are involved in B-cell malignancies, and using GeneScan Analysis Software, which is most modern and precise method of microsatellite analysis.