Paraneoplastic neutrophilic leukaemoid reaction in a patient with melanoma: association between tumour volume and leucocytosis

Abstract

Neutrophilic leukemoid reaction (NLR) is defined as a leukocyte count with more than 50 g/L polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) in the absence of haematological malignancy. Inductive treatments and severe infections are among the main causes of NLR. Paraneoplastic neutrophilic leukemoid reaction (PNLR) is a rare cause of NLR, whose pathomechanism is unclear, with most cases described in patients with solid malignancies. We report the case of a PNLR that occurred during a metastatic melanoma and for which we retrospectively studied the relationship between PMNs count, tumour mass, serum LDH and G‐CSF levels.