The survival of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) has increased over the years. It risk however, the incidence of a second primary tumor (SPM) among CLL patients is 63% higher compared to the general population.
Researchers Lina Van der Straten (IKNL/Erasmus MC) and colleagues looked at the risk standardized for age, sex and time period (SIR) and the absolute risk (AER) of a second tumour. The researchers used data from the NKR of 24,815 CLL patients diagnosed in the period from 1989 to 2019.
The researchers found 4,700 SPMs in 4,369 CLL patients during a mean follow-up period of 6.2 years. That means that some patients developed multiple SPMs, for example, multiple squamous cell carcinomas at different locations.
The risk of developing an SPM was 63% higher among the CLL patients than in the age, gender and time period matched group from the general Dutch population.
The risk was highest in patients younger than 70 years, but the absolute risk is highest in patients between 70 and 80 years. Patients older than 80 are less likely to develop an SPM because they often die before an SPM can develop.
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