CLL-IPI applied and validated in an unselected prospective study

Caspar da Cunha-Bang, from Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark, and colleagues wrote a letter to the editor of Blood recently, presenting a prospective study of data from the Danish National CLL Registry using the CLL-IPI to estimate TTE and OS in a population of newly diagnosed CLL patients. The CLL-IPI prognostic model was developed to replace the Rai-Binet clinical staging system for CLL patients using newer diagnostic techniques and has previously been discussed on the Lymphoma Hub.

The CLL-IPI requires 5 parameters which are: clinical stage, age, IGHV mutational status, TP53 status, and β2-microglobulin level. The CLL-IPI was created and validated before the current era of chemoimmunotherapy; therefore, the authors of this letter stated that it was important to validate the CLL-IPI in a population-based cohort of newly diagnosed CLL patients undergoing more modern therapies.

Highlights:

• 1,514 newly diagnosed CLL patients between 2008 and 2015 in Denmark had data on the 5 CLL-IPI variables and were included
• Low risk = 861 pts. 3-year OS = 91%
• Intermediate risk = 453 pts. 3-year OS = 86%
• High risk = 193 pts. 3-year OS = 76%
• Very high risk = 34 pts. 3-year OS = 62%
• CLL-IPI predicted significantly different OS and TTE for all of the risk groups (P <0.001)

The authors concluded their letter by stating that, in an unselected population based cohort of newly diagnosed CLL patients, the CLL-IPI index was confirmed to be robust. Furthermore, they encouraged centers to include the five CLL-IPI diagnostic parameters into routine diagnostics in CLL patients in the future.