Chronic lymphocytic leukemia: a retrospective study of 122 cases

During the period 1978-1982 in the three northernmost countries of Sweden all 143 patients with a registered diagnosis of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) were retrospectively analyzed. After re-evaluation, 122 cases remained in the study. The mean age was 71 years and the male/female ratio was 2.2:1. Sixty-one patients were Binet stage A, 29 stage B and 32 stage C. The diagnosis CLL was made after routine check-up for other diseases in most of the patients and they had no symptoms from the CLL. The median survival was 51 months and there were no differences in crude survival according to stage or other prognostic factors such as hemoglobin, lymphocytes or thrombocytes in peripheral blood. Analysis of CLL as a cause of specific mortality showed the stage of CLL to have a slight prognostic significance. This could be due to the fact that many of the patients suffered from other serious diseases, allowing the detection of early stage or advanced CLL with no symptoms.