In conclusion, we found that: i) the fundamental molecular signatures of CLL in the Caucasian and Asian populations are fairly similar; ii) novel candidate target genes in commonly altered genomic regions include Rb1, Casp1/4/5, DLC1, IRF4 and SP140/SP100; iii) CLL-associated genes identified by the previous GWAS were moderately often mutated in CLL. Here, RB1 is linked to B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia.