Disease burden of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia within the European Union

Whilst Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) is considered a rare disease, to our knowledge, the current prevalence of CLL within the European Union (EU) member states is not published. Understanding the number of individuals with CLL is vital to assess disease burden within the wider population.

Using 2002 data from the International Agency for Research on Cancer, we estimated the number of individuals with CLL (ICD-10 C91.1) from those reported for all leukaemias (C91-95) and extrapolated the figures by the population increase within the EU between 2002 and 2006, the last year with fully updated community population estimates. One- and 5-yr partial prevalence estimates are reported (i.e. the number of individuals still living 1-5 yr post-diagnosis). We then applied proportional estimates from the literature to assess those requiring immediate treatment, those under observation and their likely progression rates.

We found that within the 27 EU states plus Iceland, Norway and Lichtenstein, 1- and 5-yr CLL partial prevalence estimates totalled approximately 13,952 and 46,633 individuals respectively in 2006. By applying Binet staging to the 1-yr estimate, 40% of patients will be stage B/C and require immediate treatment. Thus, 5581 individuals may be treated within the first year of diagnosis. Of the 60% (8371) under observation, by 5 yr up to 33% (2763) may have more advanced disease with increased risk of mortality.

Whilst CLL is a rare disease, the number of individuals burdened by the disease within the EU is considerable and thousands of patients require treatment and physician care, which has cost implications for member states.