Tumor-derived DNA is elevated in the serum of patients with cancer. The quantification of circulating Epstein Barr virus (EBV) DNA is reported to have an important role in the diagnosis and management of EBV-associated lymphoid malignancies. [1][2][3][4][5][6] Circulating cellfree total DNA (cf-DNA) has been studied in a wide range of physiological and pathological conditions, including pregnancy, trauma, inflammatory disorders and malignancies. 7,8 Elevated levels of cf-DNA have been reported in many tumour types including pediatric cancers. [8][9][10][11] Both serum EBV DNA and/or cf-DNA may become valuable sources for prognosis evaluation in pediatric lymphomas

Objective:Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the most common lymphoproliferative disease in adults. The aim of this study is to find out if the extent of proliferation centers or the immunohistochemical expression of p53 is related to disease prognosis.Materials and Methods:In the scope of this study, 54 biopsy specimens from 51 patients (50 of lymph nodes; the others of spleen, tonsil, orbit, and liver) diagnosed with CLL at the Hacettepe University Department of Pathology in 2000-2013 were reevaluated. The clinical and demographic data of the patients were obtained from our patient database. Biopsy samples were assessed semi-quantitatively for the percentage of proliferation center/total biopsy area (PC/TBA) and an immunohistochemical study was performed on representative blocks of tissues for p53 expression.Results:When the patients were divided into two categories according to Rai stage as high and low (stages 0, 1, and 2 vs. stages 3 and 4), it was seen that patients with low Rai stage had a better prognosis than those with high stages (p=0.030). However, there was no statistically significant correlation between overall survival and PC/TBA ratio or p53 expression levels.Conclusion:In our cohort, PC/TBA ratio and immunopositivity of p53 did not show correlations with overall survival.

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