KEY TAKEAWAYS
- The study aimed to investigate the HRQoL in patients with primary CBCL, focusing on detailed analysis of subtype-specific impacts.
- Researchers noted that patients with CBCL experience impaired HRQoL despite favorable prognosis.
Primary cutaneous B-cell lymphomas (CBCL) are a subset of rare malignant skin disorders, comprising 20%-30% of all primary cutaneous lymphomas (PCL). Unlike primary cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (CTCL), which have been extensively studied for their impact on health-related quality of life (HRQoL), CBCL-specific HRQoL research remains limited and lacks detailed analysis across its various subtypes.
A. E. C. Schirren and the team aimed to investigate the HRQoL in CBCL patients and identify independent factors contributing to its impairment.
They performed an inclusive analysis involving 100 patients with CBCL recruited from 8 German PCL centres between 2021 and 2022. Patients completed the dermatologic HRQoL questionnaire Skindex-29 and an investigator-designed ‘CBCL-Questionnaire’ that included additional inquiries on HRQoL and clinical characteristics.
The Skindex-29 assessment indicated mild to moderate impairment of HRQoL in these patients. In multiple regression analysis, worries about dying, feeling prejudiced/discriminated, and impairment of daily activities emerged as independently associated factors with HRQoL impairment. Patients with primary cutaneous follicle centre lymphoma on rituximab treatment and those with primary cutaneous marginal zone lymphoma (MZL) on watchful waiting exhibited the highest HRQoL impairment scores.
The study concluded that despite the typically indolent disease course and favorable prognosis of CBCL, patients experience impaired HRQoL. Factors such as worries about mortality, perceived discrimination, and treatment type were identified as significant contributors to this impairment. The findings underscore the importance of effective patient-doctor communication in assessing the holistic disease burden, especially as generic HRQoL tools may overlook disease-specific concerns.
No funding was received for this study.
Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38279594/
Schirren AEC, Albrecht JD, Melchers S, et al. (2024). “Health-related quality of life and its influencing factors in patients with primary cutaneous B-cell lymphomas: A multicentric study in 100 patients.” J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2024 May;38(5):954-966. doi: 10.1111/jdv.19799. Epub 2024 Jan 26. PMID: 38279594.
