Starting from the data illustrated above, which demonstrate that DCA+Nutlin-3 strongly synergized both in promoting leukemic cytotoxicity as well as in inducing p53 transcriptional activity, it was particularly noteworthy that one of the genes up-regulated in response to DCA±Nutlin-3 was p21. In this respect, a recent study has demonstrated that a strong induction of p21 by genotoxic agents was predictive of better prognosis in B-CLL [22]. This evidence concerns the gene TP53 and B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia.