Leukemia Cutis As the Initial Manifestation of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Progression

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a malignant proliferation of monoclonal mature B-cells in peripheral blood. Leukemia cells can commonly spread from the blood to other sites such as the lymph nodes, liver, and spleen. However, contrary to T-cell lymphomas that can involve the skin, CLL metastas...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Curēus (Palo Alto, CA) CA), 2022-12, Vol.14 (12), p.e33013
Main Authors: Pedreira-García, Wilfredo M, Nieves, Dalianie, Montesinos-Cartagena, Marlian, Cortés, Carlos A, Cáceres-Perkins, William, Rabelo-Cartagena, José
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anemia
Biopsy
Bone marrow
Case reports
Flow cytometry
Hematology
Hemoglobin
Leukemia
Lymphocytes
Lymphoma
Medical prognosis
Oncology
Parasitic diseases
Patients
Primary care
Thrombocytopenia
Tomography
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Summary:Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a malignant proliferation of monoclonal mature B-cells in peripheral blood. Leukemia cells can commonly spread from the blood to other sites such as the lymph nodes, liver, and spleen. However, contrary to T-cell lymphomas that can involve the skin, CLL metastasis to the skin is unusual and is rarely the first manifestation of systemic disease. When leukemia cells invade the skin, it is termed leukemia cutis. Furthermore, multiple skin morphologies can be present in leukemia cutis making diagnosis challenging. Likewise, it can be mistaken for other common etiologies such as drug or substance allergy, infection, and scabies, among others. We herein present a case of CLL with leukemia cutis as the initial manifestation of systemic disease. The initial punch biopsy results were non-specific for inflammatory changes, but a subsequent biopsy revealed findings confirming leukemia cutis. This case not only demonstrates that identifying malignant skin manifestations in a timely manner and treating them is essential, as it improves the quality of life and survival, but also demonstrates that leukemia cutis can be a dynamic disease where multiple biopsies may be needed to confirm the diagnosis, as histopathology can change over time.
ISSN:2168-8184
2168-8184
DOI:10.7759/cureus.33013