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Detection methods of ZAP-70 in chronic lymphocytic leukemia

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Abstract

The clinical course of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is highly heterogeneous, with some patients experiencing rapid disease progression and others living for decades without requiring treatment. Immunoglobulin heavy chain variable region (IGHV) mutation status is a powerful prognostic factor in patients with CLL. The presence or absence of IGHV mutation status is currently the gold-standard prognostic factor, but this technique is labor-intensive and costly. The expression of ζ-chain-associated protein kinase 70 kDa (ZAP-70), detected by flow cytometry, has been served as a potential surrogate for the absence of IGHV mutation status since 2003. Given the current problems with the standardization of ZAP-70 assessment by flow cytometry, this chapter reviews the analysis of ZAP-70 expression by flow cytometry and the relative experimental conditions using the associated publications for “ZAP-70” and “detection method” on Medline since 2003. Thus, mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) ratio method yielded a more reproducible and easily adaptable method to routine use in the clinical diagnostic laboratory. In conclusion, though ZAP-70 is a valuable prognostic factor in CLL, detection methods of ZAP-70 remain to be fully standardized.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (30871104, 30971296), Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK2010584), “Qing Lan” project of Jiangsu Province, and “Liu Da Ren Cai Gao Feng” of Jiangsu Province, University Doctoral Foundation of the Ministry of Education of China (20093234110010), the Program for Development of Innovative Research Team in the First Affiliated Hospital of NJMU, and Provincial Initiative Program for Excellency Disciplines, Jiangsu Province.

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No financial interest/relationships with financial interest relating to the topic of this article have been declared.

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  1. Department of Hematology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Jiangsu Province Hospital, 300 Guangzhou Road, Nanjing, 210029, China

    Yin-Hua Wang, Lei Fan, Wei Xu & Jian-Yong Li

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  1. Yin-Hua Wang
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Correspondence to Wei Xu.

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Wang, YH., Fan, L., Xu, W. et al. Detection methods of ZAP-70 in chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Clin Exp Med 12, 69–77 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10238-011-0148-3

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