CD 38 marker

[22malbec]

Hi,

I read that the CD38 marker was bad prognostic. Can someone tell me more precisely what to expect (disease course, life expectancy)? The cll is at stage A.

Thank you very much.

[lankisterguy Volunteer]

Hi 22malbec,

I see you joined us June 2023 and this is your first posting.

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I was diagnosed in 2008 with Trisomy 12, CD-38 positive, Zap70 negative and UnMutated IGHV. And in general, I believe most of those factors give vague indications on how fast or slow your CLL may progress. Unfortunately they are vague and apply to the average patient, and are not very reliable in predicting what your own CLL will do.

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I believe there is a much better way to predict your own disease course and life expectancy. Since you have probably had several sets of blood tests since your diagnosis, if you look for the ALC / Lymph# / Lymphocyte count to see how it is changing over time. webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/wha...

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If that is below 30 ( that is about 6X the normal high range shown on the test results) and is not increasing rapidly, it may be many years until you will need treatment, and your life span should be nearly normal. If you have classic CLL , with few enlarged lymph nodes, that number will probably be over 200x or 400x normal high range before you will need treatment. However that blood count can be even higher and is not a reason for treatment, it is only an general indication of how fast your CLL is growing.

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The important things you should consider is avoiding infections, and getting all the vaccinations and regular cancer screening tests that are recommended. Since we are immune compromised, we are far more likely to die from an infection or another cancer than from our CLL.

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Len

[22malbec in reply to lankisterguy]

Thank you for your detailed answer, Lankisterguy; it is reassuring. The lymphocyte count is still below 30 Gg/L (18.67 Gg/L) and is growing slowly (17,37Gg/L a year ago).