Hypertension affects survival and treatment in chronic lymphocytic leukemia

ABSTRACT: Hypertension is the most common comorbidity in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), but its impact on the disease course of CLL remains poorly understood. In this nationwide cohort study of Danish patients with incident CLL (2008-2022), we examined the association between hypertension and survival from CLL diagnosis and treatment, and compare with the general population. Cox proportional hazard regression was applied for survival analyses, and the Aalen-Johansen estimator for cumulated incidence. At diagnosis of CLL, the hypertension prevalence was 46% in the CLL cohort and 45% in the general population. Hypertension was associated with shorter overall survival (OS) following CLL diagnosis (hazard ratio [HR], 1.10; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.00-1.20) and first-line treatment (HR, 1.48; 95% CI, 1.18-1.86), primarily driven by infections and cardiocerebrovascular causes of death. The difference was seen for patients aged