Mayo Clinic study finds dysfunctional white blood cells linked to heightened melanoma risk

Source: Mayo Clinic News Network, September 2024

ROCHESTER, Minn. — About 8 to 10 million Americans over age 40 have an overabundance of cloned white blood cells, or lymphocytes, that hamper their immune systems. Although many who have this condition — called monoclonal B-cell lymphocytosis (MBL) — do not experience any symptoms, a new study shows they may have an elevated risk for several health complications, including melanoma, a form of skin cancer. The findings, by Mayo Clinic researchers, are published in a new paper in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

People with MBL fall along a spectrum that spans from a low amount to a high amount of these dysfunctional lymphocytes. Previous research has shown that MBL is a precursor to a type of blood and bone marrow cancer known as chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). People with CLL also have a heightened risk of melanoma.

“Our study is the first to show that people with this pre-cancerous stage of MBL have a 92% elevated risk of developing melanoma. The risk of melanoma is similar to what we see among people with chronic lymphocytic leukemia," says Susan Slager, Ph.D., researcher with the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center and senior author of the study.
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