“…The occurrence of a spontaneous regression in CLL, defined as the achievement of a clinical remission of the disease in the absence of any previous treatment (Ribera et al , 1987; Bernard et al , 1999; Gomez Garcia et al , 2002; Thomas et al , 2002; Upshaw & Callihan, 2002), although recognized since the 1970s (Han & Sokal, 1971; Wiernik, 1976), is rarely described in the literature (Ribera et al , 1987; Bernard et al , 1999; Gomez Garcia et al , 2002; Thomas et al , 2002; Upshaw & Callihan, 2002). A recent report described nine CLL cases with a spontaneous regression of the disease over an 11‐year follow‐up, in which the CLL clone was still immunophenotypically evident in the circulating lymphocyte population (Del Giudice et al , 2009).…”