Life Expectancy in Hairy Cell Leukemia: An Updated SEER Study of 5669 Patients.
- 1Faculty of Medicine, Al-Neelain University, Khartoum, Khartoum State, Sudan.
Abstract
Hairy cell leukemia (HCL) is a rare lymphoproliferative disorder affecting mature B-cells, predominantly observed in males. It is recognized by cytopenia, splenomegaly, myelofibrosis, and the presence of atypical lymphoid cells exhibiting distinctive cytoplasmic hairy projections. This large updated population-based study utilized SEER database to evaluate 5669 hairy cell leukemia (HCL) patients diagnosed between 1978 and 2020. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards models were performed to identify key determinants of overall survival (OS). While the SEER database provides robust statistical power and broad generalizability, this analysis is inherently limited by registry-level constraints, including missing treatment details (such as specific chemotherapy regimens or lines of therapy), lack of relapse/progression data, and potential underreporting of comorbidities. Estimated median survival for HCL patients who aged less than 40 years was 39.3 (95% CI: 38.9-39.7 years) compared to 8.8 years (95% CI: 8.0-9.4 years) for HCL patients older than 65 years. This study demonstrates favorable long-term survival among patients with HCL. Improved OS is associated with more recent diagnosis (post-2006) and the use of advanced diagnostic methods. These findings suggest that long-term survival in HCL may approach that of the general population, though these findings reflect cohort-level observations without a matched population control.
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BibTeX
@article{mustafa2026life,
title = {{Life Expectancy in Hairy Cell Leukemia: An Updated SEER Study of 5669 Patients.}},
author = {Alamin Mustafa},
journal = {Journal of blood medicine},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.2147/jbm.s637330},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42999862},
note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Life Expectancy in Hairy Cell Leukemia: An Updated SEER Study of 5669 Patients.
AU - Alamin Mustafa
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/03
JO - Journal of blood medicine
DO - 10.2147/jbm.s637330
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42999862
AB - Hairy cell leukemia (HCL) is a rare lymphoproliferative disorder affecting mature B-cells, predominantly observed in males. It is recognized by cytopenia, splenomegaly, myelofibrosis, and the presence of atypical lymphoid cells exhibiting distinctive cytoplasmic hairy projections. This large updated population-based study utilized SEER database to evaluate 5669 hairy cell leukemia (HCL) patients diagnosed between 1978 and 2020. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards models were performed to identify key determinants of overall survival (OS). While the SEER database provides robust statistical power and broad generalizability, this analysis is inherently limited by registry-level constraints, including missing treatment details (such as specific chemotherapy regimens or lines of therapy), lack of relapse/progression data, and potential underreporting of comorbidities. Estimated median survival for HCL patients who aged less than 40 years was 39.3 (95% CI: 38.9-39.7 years) compared to 8.8 years (95% CI: 8.0-9.4 years) for HCL patients older than 65 years. This study demonstrates favorable long-term survival among patients with HCL. Improved OS is associated with more recent diagnosis (post-2006) and the use of advanced diagnostic methods. These findings suggest that long-term survival in HCL may approach that of the general population, though these findings reflect cohort-level observations without a matched population control.
SN - 1179-2736
ER -