Expression of ZAP 70 in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) and its Correlation with Clinical Stages

Abstract

Objective: To ascertain the levels of ZAP-70 expression within the context of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) patients and to subsequently analyze the potential correlations between ZAP-70 expression and the clinical staging of the disease. Study Design & Setting: Cross-sectional, descriptive study. Department of Hematology, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP), Rawalpindi from July 2021 to December 2021. Methodology: We included 73 CLL patients of various ages and both genders. and patients having lymphoproliferative disorders other than CLL were excluded. Sysmex XN-3000 was used to do complete blood counts. Diagnosis of CLL was confirmed immunophenotypically by flow cytometry. Samples were processed by standard methods for ZAP70 analysis. Descriptive statistics were expressed in terms of mean ± standard deviation (SD). A Chi-square test was conducted, with a significance level of p-value =0.05 being considered significant. Results: Among 73 patients, 24 were females (32.9%) and 49 were males (67.1%). Females had a mean age of 69.00±9.47 years, whereas males had a mean age of 65.73±11.12 years. ZAP-70 expression was positive in 8 (11%) and negative in 65 (89.0%) cases. The expression of ZAP-70 in CLL and its correlation with Binet Stages was significant (p=0.002). ZAP 70 expression in males and females showed no significant difference (p 0.059). ZAP-70 analysis showed no significant difference in patients with age more than 60 years from = 60 years of age (p= 0.275) Conclusion: ZAP-70 gene expression should be used in routine laboratory settings and can be correlated with the clinical stages of CLL.