Survival and Epidemiologic Trends of Lymphomas in Saudi Arabia: A 10-Year Report from a Tertiary Care Hospital

BACKGROUND: The current trends in lymphoma cases from Saudi Arabia and their long-term survival are unknown. This study was conducted to evaluate the trends of lymphoma diagnoses and survival from a major tertiary care hospital in Saudi Arabia. METHODS: This retrospective study included all new cases of lymphoma diagnosed in adults (age ≥18 years) at King Saud University Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from 2008 to 2018, as identified from the Saudi Cancer Registry. Data on the demographics and clinical characteristics were collected, the survival outcomes were estimated, and multivariate analysis of the overall survival was calculated. RESULTS: A total of 422 patients were included (median age: 46 years). The number new cases of lymphoma diagnosed variably increased over the study period: From 28 (7%) cases in 2009 to 48 (11%) in 2018. The most common lymphoma was diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (175; 41%): and extranodal site was GI involvement (33.5%). In terms of survival, 79% were alive at the last follow-up. On multivariable analysis, the hazard ratio (HR) for patients aged ≥60 years was 3.44 (95% CI: 2–5.9; P = 0.0000069), adjusted for lactate dehydrogenase level (LDH) and disease stage. For advanced-stage disease and high LDH, the HR was 4.2 (95% CI: 1.5-11.8, P = 0.00637) and 0.5 (95% CI: 0.28-0.97; P = 0.04106), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The lymphoma trend in the Saudi Arabian population showed variable increase in cases over the study period, with most patients presenting with advanced-stage disease and at a younger age. The overall survival was comparable with studies from Western countries.