Role of monocytes in the pathogenesis of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia

Abstract

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is one of the most common leukemias in adults. CLL is characterized by numerous immune disorders leading to the development of infections which have become the major cause of death in this group of patients. According to recent reports, many of immune alterations observed in the course of CLL could be attributed to dysfunctions of monocytes/macrophages and other cells of myeloid linage. In this article, we summarized the data on the role of monocytes and monocyte-derived cells in the pathogenesis of CLL.