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Dyslipidemia associated with CLL
Patients who developed chronic lymphocytic leukemia had a higher prevalence of dyslipidemia compared to a control group, according to study results.
Researchers also found that lipid-lowering drugs improved survival of patients with CLL.
“Recent evidence suggests the biology of CLL cells is related to lipid metabolism. CLL cells are highly immunosuppressive, a phenotype associated with a metabolic strategy based on fatty acid oxidation,” Lee Mozessohn, MD, FRCPC, of the division of hematology/medical oncology at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre of the University of Toronto, and colleagues wrote. “Taken together, these observations suggest that aberrant lipid metabolism is a pathogenic mechanism in CLL.”
The researchers performed a population-based case-control study of 2,124 adults aged 66 years and older (mean age, 75.6 years) with CLL in Ontario, Canada. Patients were matched by age and sex to 7,935 controls. Mozessohn and colleagues compared the prevalence of metabolic syndrome across groups, and used logistic regression to evaluate the association between metabolic syndrome and CLL.
More than one-third of the patients (35.8%) had hypertension, 20.2% had diabetes and 17.6% had dyslipidemia. A multivariable analysis showed that dyslipidemia (OR = 1.26; 95% CI, 1.11-1.44) and hypertension (OR = 1.12; 95% CI, 1.01-1.25) were both associated with the development of CLL. Metabolic syndrome and diabetes, however, were not.
Lipid-lowering drugs were associated with a significantly improved survival among patients with CLL (HR = 0.53; 95% CI, 0.47-0.61).
Mozessohn and colleagues wrote that although the reason for the connection between CLL and dyslipidemia “has not been elucidated,” it was possible that the association occurred because “dyslipidemias are low-grade inflammatory diseases and inflammatory factors, such as interleukin-6, are known to promote the proliferation of CLL cells.
“Our population-based study demonstrates an association between dyslipidemia and the subsequent development of CLL,” the researchers wrote. “We also demonstrate improved survival in those CLL patients receiving lipid-lowering medications. Further work is required to explore possible underlying mechanisms and, ultimately, prospective studies are needed to confirm these results and test their potential application as therapeutic agents.” – by Andy Polhamus
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.