Room for improvement: immunizations for patients with monoclonal B-cell lymphocytosis or chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Abstract

Infection is the cause of death in 30% to 50% of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). A major strategy to decrease infection risk is vaccination. However, vaccine response rates in patients with CLL are typically insufficient. Recent studies have demonstrated that individuals with clinical monoclonal B-cell lymphocytosis (MBL), the precursor to CLL, also have an increased risk of infection and thus could benefit from vaccines. However, there are no data on vaccine responses in the MBL population. This article reviews the immunodeficiency of CLL and MBL, discusses the recommended vaccines and data on vaccine immunogenicity in patients with CLL, and outlines the need to develop more effective vaccine strategies in this population of patients at high risk for infection.