Sorafenib causes apoptosis of CLL cells in the presence of NLCs. (A) CLL cells were cultured for 8 days alone or in the presence of NLCs with or without 10μM sorafenib or DMSO control added only once at the beginning of the culture. Viability was measured and analyzed as above. Data shown are mean ± SD from 4 different CLL samples. The mean viability ± SD of CLL cells cultured in presence of NLCs + sorafenib was 40% ± 16% (day 1), 10% ± 3% (day 4), 11% ± 6% (day 6), and 12% ± 6% (day 8). The * indicates a statistically significant difference; P < .05 paired Student t test. (B) CLL cells were cultured for 3 days in the presence of NLCs with or without 10μM sorafenib and 10μM fludarabine alone or in combination added only once at the beginning of the culture. Viability was measured and analyzed as above. Data shown are mean ± SD from 4 different CLL samples. The * indicates a statistically significant difference between sorafenib and fludarabine at day 1 (P = .0002, paired Student t test).