A link between hypercholesterolemia and chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Abstract

The incidence of hypercholesterolemia and its possible relationship with clinical course were determined by reviewing the records of 231 consecutive patients presenting to a specialized Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) clinic. Evidence for elevated cholesterol was found in up to 174/231 patients (75%) based on existing use of statins (107 patients) or non-fasting low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels greater than 2.5 mM. Excluding patients with 17p deletions, time to first treatment (TFT) was prolonged if patients were taking cholesterol-lowering statins (57.5 (IQR = 32, 77) vs 36 (IQR = 11, 100) months, p < 0.02). If patients were prescribed statins after being diagnosed with CLL, TFT was longer than if they were taking statins before the diagnosis. These observations suggest there is a high incidence of hypercholesterolemia in CLL patients and cholesterol-lowering may impact the disease course.