Bioenergetics in chronic lymphocytic leukemia: a key role for lipid uptake and storage impacting cell proliferation and survival

Introduction: Despite new therapeutic options, over 4000 people in the US and Australia died of CLL in 2018. While cytogenetics and somatic hypermutation status remain important prognostic and predictive markers, other biological aspects of disease are critical determinants of outcome. Metabolic dysfunction is a hallmark of cancer. Our studies suggest lipid metabolism may be a critical survival mechanism of CLL cells and recent data demonstrates upregulation of key proteins involved in this [Thurgood et al. BJH. 2019]. The aim of this work is to determine the preferred nutrient 213 source for CLL, its mechanism of uptake and utilization within the cells.