What Secondary Cancers Can Be Caused By CLL?

Our recent CLL Global Research Foundation Town Hall featured CLL Global President, Dr. William Wierda, and Dr. Constantine Tam from Monash University in Melbourne. CLL patient advocate Jeff Folloder moderated the event. Watch the full webinar.

Transcript

Jeff Folloder:                          

I’ve got a question from Nick, which is something that I think is really, really important. Dr. Wierda, what are the most common forms of cancer due to having CLL in the past?

Dr. William Wierda:               

So, the most common form of cancer that patients with CLL can get – that’s probably related to the immune dysfunction that they experienced because of the CLL – are skin cancers. Basal cell carcinomas and squamous cell carcinomas. And there are melanomas that we also see in patients with CLL. But skin cancers are the highest risk among other cancers for our patients with CLL. But they are at increased risk for solid tumors like colon cancer. And prostate cancer we see frequently in patients with CLL. Male patients with CLL, of course.

And so, because of that observation that there is an increased risk for other cancers, we recommend diligent screening for other cancers. Seeing a dermatologist, regardless of your age, at least once a year. If the dermatologist feels like they need to see you more often than once a year, then that would be what I would recommend for patients to follow. PSA check for men every year. Annual mammography for women. And then screening colonoscopy every five to 10 years, depending on if there’s polyps or not.

And so, there are things that you can do – proactive things that you can do for early detection for other cancers. And that’s very important. But the answer to the question is skin cancers. Fortunately, those are things that you can see relatively easy, and you can remove relatively easy with surgical procedure.