The silent war against CMV in CLL

Abstract

In this issue of Blood, Pourgheysari and colleagues demonstrate that there is a highly exaggerated expansion of CMV-specific CD4+ T cells in CMV-seropositive compared with CMV-seronegative CLL patients, particularly after chemotherapy.1 Despite this, patient survival is reduced by almost 4 years in the CMV+ cohort. However, as CMV+ CLL individuals do not exhibit symptoms of CMV-induced disease, the negative impact of CMV infection on survival may occur by indirect mechanisms.