Does absolute lymphocyte count with extreme hyperleukocytosis have a prognostic impact in chronic lymphocytic leukemia?
Although our results do not confirm that high initial levels of WBC are independently associated with shorter survival in CLL, the clinical course in these cases appears to be aggressive and conventional prognostic factors are not valid in this patient sub-group.
Genome analysis of C. sordellii reveals that the LCCs, the major virulence factors, are localised on plasmids. Many strains do not contain the LCC genes; it is probable that in several of these cases the plasmid has been lost upon laboratory subculture. Our data are consistent with LCCs being the primary virulence factors in the majority of infections, but LCC-negative strains may precipitate certain categories of infection. A high quality genome sequence reveals putative virulence factors whose role in virulence can be investigated.