Affiliation:
1. Department of Dermatology and Venerology HELIOS Klinikum Krefeld Krefeld Germany
2. Institute for Molecular Medicine Hamburg Medical School Hamburg Germany
3. Department of Dermatology HELIOS Klinikum Schwerin University Campus of the Hamburg Medical School Schwerin Germany
4. Clinic for Dermatology Venerology and Allergology Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin Joint Faculty of Medicine of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt‐Universität Berlin Berlin Germany
5. Kyowa Kirin GmbH Düsseldorf Germany
Abstract
SummaryBackgroundPrimary cutaneous lymphomas (PCL) are rare skin tumors of lymphoproliferative neoplasms and belong to the heterogeneous group of non‐Hodgkin's lymphomas. PCL encompass a broad spectrum of clinical and histologic manifestations, with cutaneous T‐cell lymphoma (CTCL) being the most common (73%). Due to the rarity of the diseases, population‐based studies of care and epidemiology are limited.Patients and methodsBased on anonymized, age‐ and sex‐adjusted SHI (statutory health insurance) claims data of approximately five million SHI‐insured patients, a retrospective analysis was conducted over a six‐year period (2012–2017) to determine the prevalence, incidence, and lethality in patients with mature‐cell T/NK‐cell lymphoma in Germany.ResultsA total of 1,336 patients with T‐cell lymphoma were identified during the observation period. The six‐year prevalence ranged from 27.35 to 43.58 per 100,000. Patients were 65% male with a mean age of 66 years (SD 15). There were 246 patients (approx. 20%) who died within the 6 years, up to 7% per year. The calculated incidence in 153 identified patients in 2017 is 3.65 to 3.92 per 100,000.ConclusionsFor the first time, valid epidemiologic findings of patients with mature T‐cell and NK‐cell lymphomas were obtained using SHI claims data in Germany. Further analyses are needed to gain a deeper insight into the healthcare reality of patients with this rare disease.