Risk factors for skin cancer and solid tumors in newly diagnosed patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia and the impact of skin surveillance on survival

Abstract

A retrospective analysis on 587 patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) assessed risk factors for skin cancer and the influence of skin cancers on survival and incidence of solid tumors (STs). Patients underwent skin surveillance and were followed for a median of 6.65 years. The relative risk for skin cancer increased prior to CLL diagnosis rising 4-fold one-year post-diagnosis. Independent predictors for skin cancer were male gender (p = .0001), age ≥70 years (p = .0036) and prior chemotherapy (p = .0116). There was no increase in mortality from skin cancer and neither skin cancer nor chemotherapy increased the risk for a ST. The development of a ST was an independent predictor of survival (p < .0001) and 43% of deaths were related to STs. Thus, regular skin surveillance can prevent increased mortality from skin cancer, but not STs, in CLL. Close skin monitoring is required for elderly males who received chemotherapy.

Keywords:

• Chronic lymphocytic leukemia
• skin cancer
• second malignancies
• prognostic markers

Potential conflict of interest

Disclosure forms provided by the authors are available with the full text of this article online at https://doi.org/10.1080/10428194.2019.1620941.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by grants from the Research Manitoba, CancerCare Manitoba Foundation grant, and Manitoba Health Research Council and unrestricted educational grants from Gilead and Janssen Pharmaceuticals.