Rakul Nambiar K¹, Anoop TM²* and Prakash NP³

¹Senior Resident, Department of Medical Oncology, Regional Cancer Centre, India
²Assistant Professor, Department of Medical Oncology, Regional Cancer Centre, India
³Additional Professor, Department of Medical Oncology, Regional Cancer Centre, India

*Corresponding Author: Anoop TM, Assistant Professor, Department of Medical Oncology, Regional Cancer Centre, Trivandrum, India.

Received: June 13, 2017; Published: July 31s, 2017

Citation: Anoop TM., et al. “CLL with CNS Involvement - A Diagnostic Dilemma”. Acta Scientific Cancer Biology 1.1 (2018).

Abstract

  Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), a clonal disorder of B lymphocytes is the most common lymphoproliferative disorder in the Western world. Extramedullary neoplastic infiltration of CLL has been described in skin, lung, pleura, gastrointestinal tract and kidney. However, involvement of the central nervous system (CNS) is considered to be rare and symptomatic central nervous system involvement in CLL is known to be rarer. Further, reported cases of CNS involvement of CLL demonstrated a diverse and non-specific spectrum of symptoms including headaches, mental status changes, cerebellar signs, cranial nerve abnormalities and weakness of extremities. This varied presentation of symptomatic central nervous system involvement in CLL leads to diagnostic difficulties. Here we report an unusual case of a 40-year-old female with untreated CLL who was diagnosed to have CNS involvement and was treated with intrathecal and systemic chemotherapy. The diagnostic dilemma arose when she presented 8 months later with similar symptoms. We are reporting the case to highlight the fact that neurological symptoms in a CLL patient may not always be due to the disease and other etiologies must also be considered in the differentials.

Keywords: CLL; CNS Involvement

Copyright: © 2018 Anoop TM., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.