The need
for subtype-specific statistics on lymphomas.
Dear Sir or Madam:
The SEER website has improved,
but the utility of the statistics for non-Hodgkin's lymphomas continue to suffer
because subtypes of the disease are not yet provided.
For comparison purposes SEER provides the following
useful
categories for Leukemias:
Lymphocytic Leukemia
Acute Lymphocytic
Leukemia
Chronic Lymphocytic
Leukemia
Myeloid and Monocytic
Leukemia
Acute Myeloid
Leukemia
Chronic Myeloid
Leukemia
for Non-Hodgkin's
Lymphoma:
none
As
you know, incidence, prevalence and survival vary significantly based
on subtypes of lymphoma. Trends
in survival also vary significantly based on the clinical tempo of the
disease - aggressive versus indolent, as does, presumably, conditional
survival.
We do not know yet what NHL entities are
available to SEER (in the raw data sets), but we ask that you provide
subtype specific information on NHL along these lines as soon as
possible:
Blood cancers
Lymphomas
Non-Hodgkin's
lymphoma
Aggressive
DLBCL
T-cell
MCL
Other (Aggressive - defined entities)
Indolent
Follicular
MALT
T-cell
Other (Indolent - defined entities)
Hodgkin's Lymphoma
Leukemias:
Lymphocytic Leukemia
Acute Lymphocytic
Leukemia
Chronic Lymphocytic
Leukemia
Myeloid and Monocytic
Leukemia
Acute Myeloid
Leukemia
Chronic Myeloid
Leukemia
Note: As you know, CLL is b-lymphocyte cancer. Presumably, it's classified
as a leukemia based on presentation and other factors, but it could
easily be considered a lymphoma.
Sincerely,
Karl Schwartz
Patients Against Lymphoma
