Risk for Skin Cancer Elevated for Patients With Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

WEDNESDAY, April 1, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- Patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) have an increased risk for skin cancer compared with controls, with basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma as the most common types, according to a study published online April 1 in JAMA Dermatology.Astrid Merete Blomberg Drejøe, from Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark, and colleagues examined the overall risk for skin cancer, skin cancer subtypes, and skin cancer-specific metastasis and death among patients with CLL and controls without CLL in a nationwide population-based matched cohort study using Danish registry data. Patients with CLL were matched 1:5 with controls; the study included 8,352 patients with CLL and 41,760 controls.The researchers found that the absolute 10-year risk for skin cancer was 13.5 and 6.9 percent among patients with CLL and controls, respectively (absolute risk difference [ARD], 6.6 percentage points [pp]). Compared with controls, patients with CLL had an increased risk for most skin cancer subtypes, with the most common being basal cell carcinoma (8.6 versus 5.4 percent; ARD, 3.2 pp) and squamous cell carcinoma (4.7 versus 1.4 percent; ARD, 3.3 pp). Compared with controls, patients with CLL had a higher risk for both skin cancer metastasis (0.7 versus 0.1 percent; ARD, 0.6 pp) and skin cancer-specific death (0.3 versus 0.1 percent; ARD, 0.2 pp). Patients with CLL and controls had all-cause mortality of 56.3 and 39.3 percent, respectively (ARD, 17.0 pp)."Our individually matched study design likely provided more reliable estimates of the actual risk, making the findings useful in clinical care," the authors write.Several authors disclosed ties to the biopharmaceutical industry.Abstract/Full Text (subscription or payment may be required).Sign up for our weekly HealthDay newsletter

Risk for Skin Cancer Elevated for Patients With Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

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