Melanoma Risk Doubled for Monoclonal B-Cell Lymphocytosis
Source: AJMC, October 2024
Patients who have the low-count chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) phenotype monoclonal B-cell lymphocytosis (LC-MBL) have a nearly doubled risk for melanoma, according to a study in Journal of Clinical Oncology.
MBL is a premalignant condition that is roughly 500 times more common than CLL, which itself is associated with a 2-fold increased risk of melanoma. It had been unknown whether patients who have MBL had an increased melanoma risk.
“Given that unrecognized MBL is prevalent in approximately 5% to 12% of the US population older than 40 years, these results have meaningful effect on melanoma rates in the population. An] estimated 5% to 10% of individuals with incident melanoma could be associated with underlying MBL,” the authors wrote.