Additional Malignancies Reduce Survival in Patients With Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

Patients with malignancies in addition to chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) had significantly shorter survival time than patients with CLL alone, according to findings published in Medicine. 

“It has been reported that the rates of other malignancies involving the skin, lung, kidney, and prostate increase in patients with CLL,” wrote a research team from Turkey. “Interestingly, studies have emphasized that various malignancies may occur due to the treatments applied for CLL.”

The retrospective study investigated all patients with CLL at a single hematology outpatient clinic in Istanbul between 2013 and 2021. Researchers were interested in the prevalence of other malignancies in the patient population.

Among the 132 patients identified, 107 had CLL only, and 25 had CLL and other malignancies. 

Patients in the CLL-only group had higher lymphocyte count, white blood cell count, and hemoglobin, according to the study, while patients in the CLL-plus-other-malignancies group had higher rates of Rai stage IV, Binet stage B, progression, and sepsis. Overall survival time was significantly lower in the CLL-plus-other-malignancies group.

When researchers considered patients’ use of CLL treatment, they found most additional malignancies had been diagnosed before CLL in the no-treatment group. In the treatment group, most additional malignancies were diagnosed after CLL.

 “In cases with a diagnosis of CLL, care should be taken to detect other malignancies,” researchers wrote, “and it should be kept in mind that the presence of other malignancies may reduce survival.”

Reference:
Turan Erkek E, Aslan E. Additional malignancies shorten overall survival in chronic lymphocytic leukemia irrespective of chromosomal aberrations: a retrospective cohort study. Medicine. Published online February 10, 2023. doi:10.1097/MD.0000000000032906