Understanding why some people with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) get more infections

CLL is a is a slow-growing blood cancer that affects white blood cells in the bone marrow called lymphocytes. Although treatments for CLL have improved in recent years, individuals with the disease still have a high risk of developing infections following treatment. These infections are often due to problems with the immune system, but we still don’t fully understand why some patients are more affected than others.

There is some evidence which suggests that having the blood disorder, clonal haematopoiesis (CH), can increase the risk of serious infections for people with CLL. Currently we don’t know exactly how CH affects infection risk in CLL patients, or how it influences the immune system to cause other issues for people with the disease. As many people with CLL live with a constant worry of getting infections that can cause serious complications, this research is greatly needed.

In this pilot project, Dr Quek and her team at King’s College London want to better understand the role of CH in people with CLL. They will analyse blood and immune cells from people with CLL to investigate what CH genetic changes they have. By looking at their health records, the research team can see if these changes mean someone is more likely to develop infections or other complications. They also plan to look at how cells from the immune system behave, comparing them to people without CH. The researchers hope from this they can understand more about CH in people with CLL and why some are more vulnerable to infections than others.

If successful, this research could reveal how best to protect and support people with CLL who have CH and may be more prone to infections. Introducing genetic testing at diagnosis would help doctors to identify those most at risk and offer personalised care to keep them safe. This research could also benefit people with other long-term blood cancers, such as certain lymphomas and myeloma, by reducing infections, hospital stays, and complications.