Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia and small lymphocytic lymphoma: overview of the descriptive epidemiology.

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Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia and small lymphocytic lymphoma: overview of the

descriptive epidemiology.

Graca M Dores, F , Rochelle E Curtis, Ola Landgren, Evgenia

Ostroumova, C Bluhm, S Rabkin, S Devesa, and Martha S

Linet

Br J Haematol, October 17, 2007; .

Radiation Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics,

Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), National Cancer Institutem

National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, MD, USA.

The 2001 World Health Organization classification scheme considers B-cell

chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) and small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL) in an

aggregate category (CLL/SLL) because of shared clinicopathological features. We

have estimated age-adjusted incidence rates (IRs) of CLL and SLL in the

population-based Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Program in the

United States to analyse patterns of CLL and SLL separately and jointly.

Age-standardized to the 2000 US population, overall IRs were 3.83 per 100 000

person-years for CLL (n = 15 676) and 1.31 for SLL (n = 5382) during 1993-2004.

Incidence of the combined entity, CLL/SLL, was 90% higher among males compared

to females, and the male:female IR ratio was significantly higher for CLL (1.98)

than for SLL (1.67). CLL/SLL IRs were 25% and 77% lower among Blacks and

Asian/Pacific Islanders, respectively, compared to Whites. A significant

reporting delay was evident for CLL but not for SLL, so that CLL/SLL temporal

trends must be interpreted cautiously. CLL and SLL IRs increased exponentially

with age among all gender/race groups, with CLL IRs increasing more steeply with

advancing age than SLL. Avenues of future research include assessment of

delayed- and under-reporting to cancer registries and exploration of race,

gender, and age effects in epidemiological studies.

PMID: 17941952