When the phospho-protein levels in 22 CLL samples were analyzed relative to the mean of normal controls, the basal phosphorylation levels were shown to be reduced and significantly different (p ε 0.0001-0.05) for the phospho-proteins BLNK (pY84), Btk (pY551) & Itk (pY511), MEK1 (pS298), S6-Ribosomal protein (pS235/236) and STAT6 (pY641). Here, BTK is linked to B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia.