Incidence of primary cutaneous T-cell lymphoma in Wales

Funding sources: none. Conflicts of interest: none declared. Dear Editor, Primary cutaneous T‐cell lymphoma (PCTCL) is a rare disease. The incidence of this disease has been studied in the U.S.A. and other countries, but it has not previously been studied in Wales, which has an estimated population of 3 million.1 Our aim was to estimate the incidence rate of PCTCL in Wales, which has a relatively homogeneous population. All new cases of lymphoma diagnosed in Wales are reviewed by the All Wales Lymphoma Panel (AWLP), which was established in 2002.2 We hoped that identifying patients through this national pathology database would give an accurate reflection of the incidence of PCTCL in Wales. However, during the time that this study was carried out (October 2011–March 2012) we also contacted local health board pathology databases in Wales and asked clinicians (dermatology consultants in Wales) to alert us to any patients with PCTCL. Patients who were diagnosed clinically and histopathologically with PCTCL (including histology reports that stated that the findings were ‘consistent with PCTCL’) between 1 August 2003 and 31 October 2011 were included. This start date was chosen because it was after publication of the U.K. guidelines on the diagnosis and management of PCTCL, and we carried out an audit of the guidelines at the same time as conducting this study.3