Striking variation in incidence, proportions of peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL) subtypes, and survival was seen in a study of 13,107 patients with PTCL. Researchers found:

• Annual PTCL incidence was highest in blacks and lowest in Native Americans.

• Compared with non-Hispanic whites:

• Blacks had a higher incidence of PTCL not otherwise specified (PTCL-NOS), anaplastic large-cell lymphoma, and adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL), and a lower incidence of angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL).
• Asians/Pacific Islanders had a higher incidence of AITL, extranodal nasal-type natural killer/T-cell lymphoma and NK-cell leukemia (ENKCL), and ATLL and a lower incidence of anaplastic large-cell lymphoma.
• Hispanics had a higher incidence of AITL and ENKCL.
• Native Americans had a lower incidence of PTCL-NOS.

• The ratio of ENKCL to PCTL-NOS among Native Americans, Asians/Pacific Islanders, and Hispanic whites was approximately three- to four-fold the same ratio among non-Hispanic whites.

• Survival varied significantly by race/ethnicity, with blacks in particular experiencing shorter survival for most subtypes.

Citation: Adams SV, Newcomb PA, Shustov AR. Racial patterns of peripheral T-cell lymphoma incidence and survival in the United States. [Published online ahead of print January 25, 2016]. J Clin Oncol. doi:10.1200/JCO.2015.635540.