Brief report Solid tumors after chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Prior reports indicate that patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) may be at increased risk of subsequent neo-plasms. This study quantified the risk of second cancers among 16 367 patients with CLL in the population-based Surveil-lance, Epidemiology and End Results Pro-gram. Overall, the observed/expected ra-tio (O/E) was 1.20 (95 % confidence interval [CI], 1.15-1.26). Second cancer risks for patients who received chemotherapy only as the first course of treatment (O/E 5 1.21) were similar to risks for those who received no treatment initially (O/E 5 1.19). Significant excesses were found for Kaposi sarcoma (O/E 5 5.09), malignant melanoma (O/E 5 3.18), and cancers of the larynx (O/E 5 1.72) and the lung (O/E 5 1.66). Increased risks were also found for brain cancer among men (O/E 5 1.91) and for cancers of the stomach (O/E 5 1.76) and bladder (O/E 5 1.52) among women. Additional investigations of cancers after CLL are needed to ex-plore the role of immunologic impairment and/or other etiologic influences. (Blood