Plasma levels of basic fibroblast growth factor and vascular endothelial growth factor and their association with IgVH mutation status in patients with B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia

The mutation status of genes encoding the variable region of immunoglobulin heavy chains (IgV(H)) is a strong predictor of disease progression and survival in B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL). We investigated whether there is an association between the concentration of both vascular endothelial growth factor and basic fibroblast growth factor and IgV(H) mutation status in 49 untreated B-CLL patients.