Accordingly, our data clearly show that peripheral blood CLL cells (in contrast to normal PBMCs and normal B cells), constitutively expressed NGAL; the NF-κB signaling pathway, activated in most cancers including CLL, regulates the transcription of NGAL [8], and this likely explains the enhanced levels of NGAL in CLL cells. Here, NFKB1 is linked to B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia.