High CD52 Mrna Expression is an Adverse Prognostic Factor in Fludarabine-Refractory CLL Treated with Alemtuzumab on the Gcllsg CLL2H Trial

Alemtuzumab is a humanized mAb that targets CD52 and has been widely used for the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients with refractory disease or loss / mutation of TP53. The cell-surface marker CD52 is variably expressed on peripheral blood mononuclear cells and shows relatively high expression levels on the surface of both healthy B lymphocytes and on CLL cells, but the biologic function of CD52 has not been sufficiently clarified yet.