Upper Aerodigestive Tract Cancer in Patients With Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

Abstract

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the most common leukemia in adults in the United States, with an age-adjusted annual incidence of 4.7 per 100 000 men and 2.5 per 100 000 women. The incidence increases with age.1 Immunosuppression is commonly considered a hallmark of CLL. Between 25% and 50% of patients with CLL ultimately die of infection, most frequently involving the respiratory or urinary tracts.2 Small lymphocytic lymphoma is an indolent B-cell malignant condition, which is immunophenotypically identical to CLL but lacks the circulating lymphocytosis seen in CLL. The current World Health Organization classification considers small lymphocytic lymphoma and CLL as a single entity.3,4