Although CLL has one of the highest familial predispositions of all hematologic malignancies, a strong ethnic predisposition for Caucasians, and a relative sparing of African American and Asian populations, the genetic basis for these differences are not clearly defined. New research on HLA genotypes of 3,978 patients with CLL has identified several HLA alleles associated with CLL susceptibility in each of three populations: Caucasian, African-American, and Hispanic. The results reconfirm the predisposing roles of HLA-A*02:01 and HLA-DRB4*01:01 in Caucasians, and identified significant associations for haplotype DRB4*01:01~DRB1*07:01~DQB1*03:03 across all three population groups.
Specific HLA Alleles Associated with Development of Severe CLL
Oct 2014