Plasma B-Cell Maturation Antigen Levels are Elevated and Correlate with Disease Activity in Patients with Chronic...

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a malignancy of late B cells. In another late B-cell malignancy (multiple myeloma), levels of solubilized B-cell maturation antigen (sBCMA) are elevated and predict outcomes.

We sought to evaluate sBCMA as a possible prognostic factor and monitoring tool for patients with CLL.

Using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), we assessed plasma (p) levels of BCMA in 171 CLL patients and compared them with levels in healthy individuals.

pBCMA levels were significantly higher among patients with CLL than those from healthy donors (p < 0.0001). Among patients with aggressive disease, pBCMA was elevated compared with patients with indolent disease (p < 0.001). Those with an initial pBCMA level in the highest quartile had a shorter time to first treatment compared with CLL patients with pBCMA levels in the lowest three quartiles (p < 0.0001). Among those in the highest quartile (pBCMA > 110.9 ng/mL), overall survival was shorter than those in the lowest three quartiles (p = 0.0007). Finally, among those patients who underwent serial pBCMA testing, changes in these levels correlated with changes in their clinical status.

Together, our findings show that pBCMA is a promising new prognostic and predictive indicator for patients with CLL.