FLARE-UP OF SQUAMOUS-CELL CARCINOMA OF THE SKIN FOLLOWING FLUDARABINETHERAPY FOR CHRONIC LYMPHOCYTIC-LEUKEMIA

We present a 72-year-old patient with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CL L), About a year following therapy with chlorambucil and prednisone, h e suffered from anemia, thrombocytopenia and organomegaly. The patient received fludarabine with a favorable response. Concomitantly with th e clinical improvement of the CLL there was a remarkable flare-up of s calp squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) lesions, initially noted 4 years pr eviously, The lesions were multiple and grew rapidly. Fludarabine depr esses the T lymphocyte population, cells that play a pivotal role in t he regression of the SCC, We suggest, that the flare-up and exacerbati on of the SCC lesions of the patient were triggered by the fludarabine therapy.