Think of what loads up a filter. It's not engine wear particles or dirt from the atmosphere but degradation byproducts of the oil. So what actually determines how long an oil filter can be used depends on how far you with the oil, and how hard you work it.
If oil is of excellent quality and changed in time, filters last a very long time. If the oil is marginal (or marginal oil/over extended interval has been used in the past) the filter can be overloaded in a few miles. I've ran filter cartidges for 30k+ miles that looked like they were installed a few days before, but I don't let my oil degrade.
