Correlation between TNF-α level and survival duration.

(A) Survival of the previously untreated CLL patients stratified by TNF-α level. The mean TNF-α level in this group of patient was 14 pg/mL. Distributions were estimated by means of the Kaplan-Meier method. The tick marks indicate the point of last follow-up for one or more of the patients who did not die. (B) When all 150 patients were considered, higher levels of TNF-α correlated with shorter survival.