Acute lymphoblastic leukemia in a patient with chronic cyanoacrylate exposure

Environmental agents have long been thought to be linked to the development of malignancies. Due to the difficulty in identifying and verifying exposures to such agents, only a few chemical compounds are clearly linked to malignancies. We report here the case of a 36-year-old man with pre-B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. This patient was using industrial strength glue to reattach a chipped tooth for approximately 1 year, and such use was associated with chronic exposure of his oral mucosa to this glue. This case raises the possibility that chronic exposure to cyanoacrylates, the adhesive agents in industrial strength glue, may be associated with the development of acute lymphoblastic leukemia in humans.