Splenectomy in advanced chronic lymphocytic leukaemia

A group of 20 patients with stage C chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) and marked splenomegaly refractory to anti-leukaemia treatment was evaluated in relation to clinical course and survival after splenectomy, and compared with a control group of non-splenectomised CLL patients at the same disease stage. Patients in the former group showed a significant clinical improvement after splenectomy, being reallocated to, and maintained in, stages A (85%) or B (10%) for more than 24 months. Ten patients were still alive 24-135 months after splenectomy. The 10 deaths observed in the group of splenectomised patients occurred 4-69 months after surgery, due to disease progression and/or immunoblastic transformation (4 cases), infectious complications (3 cases) and unrelated causes (3 cases). Analysis of survival from diagnosis showed a significantly better prognosis for patients in the splenectomised group (median survival 10 years, as compared to 3.5 years for the control group). The same statistical difference, p less than 0.001, with better life expectancy for splenectomised patients, was observed when the survival was calculated from the time of progression to stage C. These results strongly suggest a beneficial role for splenectomy in advanced CLL with significant splenomegaly, when the accumulation of resistant lymphoid cells precludes an adequate control of the disease by conventional forms of treatment.