Use of the receptor tyrosine kinase-like orphan receptor 1 (ROR1) as a diagnostic tool in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

Abstract

Flow cytometry is commonly used to establish the diagnosis of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). A defined combination of antibodies discriminates between normal B cells and CLL cells (coexpression of CD5, CD19, and CD23). The receptor tyrosine-like orphan receptor one (ROR1) is an embryonic glycoprotein involved in several developmental processes. It was shown to be highly and specifically expressed on circulating B lymphoma cells, but not on normal B cells. Here, we examined the potential of ROR1 as a diagnostic marker in initial and follow-up diagnostics of patients with CLL. 105 untreated and 72 treated patients, as well as healthy volunteers were examined using flow cytometry assays. Furthermore, we examined 10 patients with various B cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas (B-NHL). ROR1 was detected using a directly labeled antibody. We detected uniformly high ROR1 expression levels in all CLL samples. In marked contrast, only low or absent ROR1 expression levels were found on B cells from healthy donors. ROR1 expression in CLL patients was not influenced by various treatments. Taken together, ROR1 may be used as a diagnostic marker for CLL. As it is the only antigen which can exclusively be detected on neoplastic B cells it may greatly increase both, specificity as well as sensitivity, in lymphoma diagnostics.

• Authors: Sabrina Uhrmacher, Christina Schmidt, Felix Erdfelder, Simon Jonas Poll-Wolbeck, Iris Gehrke, Michael Hallek, Karl-Anton Kreuzer
• Journal: Leukemia research (Leuk Res) Vol. 35 Issue 10 Pg. 1360-6 (Oct 2011) ISSN: 1873-5835 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 21531460 (Publication Type: Journal Article)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Chemical References

• Antibodies
• Antigens, CD
• Biomarkers
• ROR1 protein, human
• Receptor Tyrosine Kinase-like Orphan Receptors

Topics

• Aged
• Aged, 80 and over
• Antibodies (analysis)
• Antigens, CD (immunology, metabolism)
• B-Lymphocytes (metabolism, pathology)
• Biomarkers (analysis)
• Case-Control Studies
• Female
• Flow Cytometry
• Follow-Up Studies
• Humans
• Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell (diagnosis, immunology, metabolism, pathology)
• Lymphoma, B-Cell (diagnosis, immunology, metabolism, pathology)
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Receptor Tyrosine Kinase-like Orphan Receptors (analysis, biosynthesis)
• Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
• Sensitivity and Specificity