Role of the B-cell receptor in chronic lymphocytic leukemia: where do we stand?

The past 15 years have witnessed an enormous effort in studying B-cell Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. A great number of researches brought significant novel information and a better understanding of the natural history of this disease.This mini review will focus on the studies related to the Immunoglobulin variable (IgV) genes rearrangements that compose the B-cell receptor (BcR) of the leukemic clones. These stud­ ies have defined a role for the antigen(s) in the paths that lead to leukemic clone generation/expansion and underscore the informative value represented by BcR analyses