Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia: a model for investigating potential new targets for the therapy of indolent lymphomas

We address two key issues whose investigation may help to define new prognostic parameters and new potential targets for therapeutic intervention. First, which are the conceptual implications of the cellular origin of indolent lymphomas? Second, how may deciphering the biology of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) lead to the development of new modalities of treatment? The latter issue is articulated in the following three key questions. (1) Which are the molecular pathways through which the microenvironment exerts its influence on the malignant clone? (2) What are the relationships between proliferation and defective apoptosis? (3)Is there any evidence of a role for antigenic stimulation?