Susan L. Slager, Ph.D.

The overall goals of this study are to evaluate similarities and differences of the known genetic and non-genetic epidemiological factors associated with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) risk across African Americans, Hispanics, and Caucasian populations.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether monoclonal B-cell lymphocytosis (MBL) has an impact on clinical outcomes among patients with a diagnosis of a solid tumor.

Given that family members of CLL patients are known to have an increased risk of CLL (on the order of 8-fold), and they have a higher prevalence of MBL than in an unselected sample of individuals, there is a need to understand the natural course of MBL in individuals from these high-risk families. This information may help us understand which MBL patients are likely to progress to clinical disease. Ultimately, the findings from this study may advance our understanding of the relationship between MBL and CLL, and may result in new approaches for the prevention, early detection, and treatment of CLL.

The scientific aims of our project are as follows:

• To evaluate the risk of progression from MBL to CLL in individuals from high-risk families.
• To evaluate environmental risk factors for MBL and progression to CLL.
• To evaluate germ line genetic changes among individuals with MBL, CLL, and a sample of controls.