Incidence and Outcomes of Primary Cutaneous Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma: a SEER Population Based Study

Abstract

Primary cutaneous anaplastic large cell lymphoma (PC-ALCL) is the second most common type of cutaneous lymphoma of T cell origin. Despite its higher prevalence among dermal lymphoma, its overall incidence is rare; hence, its demographic characteristics and outcome is not well explored. Here, we have examined the epidemiologic features and outcomes in PC-ALCL in the population of the United States. First, we identified patients with PC-ALCL from the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results database from 1975 - 2017. Cases with only histological and immunohistochemical or molecular evidence of diagnosis were included in the study. Age, sex, and race-standardized incidence rates (IR) were calculated. Survival was assessed using Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox proportional hazards models. Of all 569 cases documented as PC-ALCL, 93 patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria. We found the incidence of PC-ALCL to be highly correlated with increased age. There is a predominance of PC-ALCL in white male population. The survival analysis did not signify age of diagnosis, sex, or race as factors affecting the outcome for the patients. Although the site of primary tumor trends towards affecting survival, it does not meet statistical significance. PC-ALCL is a rare malignancy predominantly affecting older white male in the United States. The increased age is highly correlated with disease development, however, neither the demographic characteristics nor the site of the primary tumor affects the outcome for the patients.

[N A J Med Sci. 2024;17(1):004-007.   DOI:  10.7156/najms.2024.1701004]