Infections and their prognostic significance before diagnosis of chronic lymphocytic leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, or multiple myeloma.

Patients with B cell-derived malignancies exhibit marked immunodeficiency several years prior to diagnosis such that different disease subtypes demonstrate both overlapping and distinct trends in infection risk preceding diagnosis. Moreover, multiple infections within the year preceding diagnosis are independently associated with shorter overall survival for all the examined malignancies.