Incidence and survival patterns of cutaneous T-cell lymphomas in the United States

Using the United States Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) 17 dataset, we examined incidence and survival patterns for patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (CTCLs) diagnosed following institution of the World Health Organization-European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (WHO-EORTC) classification. From 2005 to 2008, 2273 cases of CTCL were diagnosed. The age-adjusted incidence rate per 100,000 person-years for mycosis fungoides (MF) was 0.55 and for Sézary syndrome (SS) was 0.01. Incidence was higher among males (MF/SS male-to-female incidence rate ratio IRR 1.57) and black patients (MF black-to-white IRR 1.55). Black patients with CTCL were diagnosed at a younger age and black patients with MF/SS presented with advanced stage and had worse survival than white patients. In multiple-variable Cox-regression models, age > 60 (hazard ratio HR 4.78, 95% confidence interval CI 2.97-7.70), black race (HR 2.09, 95% CI 1.29-3.37) and advanced stage (HR 6.06, 95% CI 3.66-10.05) predicted worse survival for patients with MF/SS. Additional research identifying reasons for these differences are necessary to better understand these diseases and for new strategies in the treatment of CTCL.