Survival from Acute MyeloidLeukaemia in Patients Over 55 Years of Age in Northern Ireland: A Discrete Population

Abstract

Acute myeloid leukaemia is a disease of increasing frequency in the elderly. The aim of this study was to describe the survival and the factors influencing survival in a cohort older than 55 years in Northern Ireland, which has a relatively stable population. The median survival of the 92 cases identified in a 6-year period was 18 weeks with an actuarial survival overall at one year of 24%. Independent risk factors for survival were administration of chemotherapy with the intention to induce remission, social class 1 and 2, hepatomegaly, absence of splenomegaly, lower LDH, lower PB blast count, higher haemoglobin, female sex and WHO performance status 0–2. The results of this study suggest that survival from acute leukaemia in the elderly is very poor when an unselected patient cohort is considered.

Keywords:

• Acute leukaemia
• Myeloid
• Elderly
• Response