Cutaneous diseases preceding diagnoses of lymphoreticular malignancies.

Dermatology visits during a 5-year period before the diagnosis of lymphoreticular malignancy in 258 subjects were reviewed and compared with visits made by 258 randomly selected, age- and sex-matched control subjects in the same period. Six of the 96 patients with leukemia and none of their matched controls (p less than 0.05) had cutaneous malignancies 20 to 60 months before the diagnosis of leukemia. There was no increase in cutaneous malignancies preceding lymphoma. A common factor predisposing to both cutaneous malignancy and leukemia, such as a defect in immunosurveillance, is suggested.