Angiogenesis process contributes to the pathogenesis of B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) being the levels of VEGFA and bFGF higher in patients than in healthy controls. Our aim was to evaluate the implication of angiogenesis factors genetic variants in the predisposition to B-CLL and their association with clinical factors and survival. We performed a population-based case-control study in 224 Spanish B-CLL patients and 476 healthy randomly selected controls to evaluate susceptibility to developing B-CLL. Six polymorphisms were evaluated: rs1109324, rs1547651, rs3025039 (+936 C>T), rs833052 of the VEGFA gene, rs1449683 (c.233C>T) of the bFGF gene and (-710 C>T) of the VEGFR1 gene. The association between clinical parameters and patient outcome was analyzed. Carriers of the CT/TT variants of rs3025039 showed a significant protective effect against developing B-CLL. The CT/TT variants of rs1449683 show a tendency towards the development of the disease and the same variants associated significantly with higher genetic risk and with reduced disease free survival. Moreover, the association persisted in the early-stage disease subgroup. Our study provides evidence of the protective effect of the T/- rs3025039 VEGFA variant against B-CLL development and the association of CT/TT variants of the rs1449683 bFGF gene with genetic risk and an adverse survival.
Keywords: chronic lymphocytic leukemia risk; fibroblast growth factor; polymorphisms; vascular endothelial growth factor.