Adult T-cell leukemia and lymphoma in French Guiana: a retrospective analysis with real-life data from 2009 to 2019

Abstract

Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL), one of the most aggressive cancers in the world, occurs in 5% of the 10 million people living with HTLV-1 worldwide. French Guiana, a French overseas territory in South America, is one of the highest endemic areas of HTLV-1 worldwide. Here, we describe the demographic and clinical characteristics and outcome of ATL in this area. We retrospectively collected data from all patients diagnosed between 2009 and 2019. Patients were distributed according to Shimoyama's classification. Prognostic factors were explored through univariate analysis. Over the 10-year study period, 41 patients with a median age of 54 years at diagnosis were identified, among whom 56% were women. Sixteen (39%) patients were Maroons, a cultural group descendant of the runaway enslaved Africans from former Dutch Guiana. Among the study population, 23 (56%) had an acute type, 14 (34%) a lymphoma type, and one and one chronic and primary cutaneous tumour, respectively. First-lines of treatment included either chemotherapy or Zidovudine combined with pegylated interferon alpha. The 4-year overall survival was 11.4% for the entire population with 0% and 11% for lymphoma and acute forms, respectively. The median progression-free survival was 93 and 115 days for the acute and lymphoma groups (p=0.37), respectively. Among the twenty-nine patients who died, 8 (28%) died of toxicity, 7 (24%) died of disease progression and the cause of death remained unknown in 14 (48%) patients. Due to the overall poor prognosis, no significant prognostic factors could be identified. This study provides real-life data from ATL patients in French Guiana, a remote territory in a middle-income region. Patients, mostly Maroons, presented with a younger age and the prognosis was worse than expected compared to Japanese patients. None.