Long-term outcome of childhood acute myeloid leukemia in a developing country: experience from a children's hospital in China

Abstract

Data on childhood acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in developing countries are limited. Herein we report the outcome of childhood AML treated with modified NPCLC-AML97 in our institution from 1997 to 2005. One hundred and eighty-five children with newly diagnosed AML were admitted. The 7-year overall survival (OS) and event free survival (EFS) rates for the whole cohort were 33.1 ± 4.1% and 31.2 ± 3.7%, respectively. Sixty patients (32.4%) refused chemotherapy and 123 were eligible for protocol evaluation. Among eligible patients, 111 (90.2%) achieved complete remission (CR). The estimated 7-year OS and EFS rates were 50.2 ± 5.5% and 46.9 ± 5.1%, respectively. APL was more curable than non-APL (7-year EFS: 63.5 ± 7.9% vs. 35.9 ± 6.3%, p = 0.005). Thirty-one patients (25.2%) relapsed, but no central nervous system leukemia was observed. Although the cure rate of childhood AML in China was low, the treatment outcome for patients who could adhere to the treatment protocol was satisfactory.

Keywords:

• Acute myeloid leukemia
• child
• outcome
• abandonment
• developing country

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Mr. Hongqiang Shen and Mrs. Baiqin Qian for their excellent laboratory support.

Declaration of interest: This work was supported in part by a grant from Zhejiang Provincial Bureau of Science and Technology (No: 2007C23007).