Chemo-naïve CLL Patient Blood Samples

Peripheral blood from 44 chemo-naïve CLL patients participating in a previously reported clinical trial (AGMT-REVLIRIT trial, ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00738829 and NCT01703364) [23 (link)] receiving first line treatment with lenalidomide in combination with fludarabine and rituximab was collected upon informed consent and ethical approval by the Ethics Committee of the Province of Salzburg (415-E/1287/4–2011, 415-E/1287/8–2011). Sampling was performed prior to treatment starting, and CLL cells were obtained by density gradient centrifugation and a B-CLL Cell Isolation kit (Miltenyi Biotec, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany). The cell purity was >90% in all samples. The determination of prognostic markers was performed routinely in our department as described previously [23 (link)].