Incidence and prognostic significance of karyotypic subgroups in older patients with acute myeloid leukemia: the Swedish population-based experience.

The Swedish population-based acute myeloid leukemia registry contains data from 3251 patients (excluding acute promyelocytic leukemia) diagnosed between 1997 and 2006. Informative cytogenetic data from 1893 patients were retrospectively added, including 1054 patients aged between 60 and 79 years. Clonal abnormalities were found in 57% of the informative karyotypes. Karyotypic patterns differed by age: t(8;21), inv(16) and t(11q23) were more common in younger patients, whereas loss of 5q, 7q and 17p, monosomal karyotype (MK) and complex karyotypes were more common in older patients. Loss of 5q, 7q and 17p often occurred together within MK. Patients with 5 chromosome abnormalities had worse overall survival than those with fewer abnormalities or normal karyotype in all age groups. Loss of 5q, 7q and/or 17p had, in contrast to MK, a further negative impact on survival. Multivariable Cox regression analyses on risk factors in patients <80 years with cytogenetic abnormalities and intensive treatment revealed that age and performance status had the most significant impact on survival (both P<0.001), followed by sex (P=0.0135) and a karyotype including -7/del(7q) (P=0.048).

Continuing high early death rate in acute promyelocytic leukemia: a population-based report from the Swedish Adult Acute Leukemia Registry.

Our knowledge about acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) patients is mainly based on data from clinical trials, whereas population-based information is scarce. We studied APL patients diagnosed between 1997 and 2006 in the population-based Swedish Adult Acute Leukemia Registry. Of a total of 3897 acute leukemia cases, 3205 (82%) had non-APL acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and 105 (2.7%) had APL. The incidence of APL was 0.145 per 100,000 inhabitants per year. The median age at the time of diagnosis was 54 years; 62% were female and 38% male. Among younger APL patients, female sex predominated (89% of patients <40 years). Of the 105 APL patients, 30 (29%) died within 30 days (that is, early death (ED)) (median 4 days) and 28 (26%) within 14 days from diagnosis. In all, 41% of the EDs were due to hemorrhage; 35% of ED patients never received all-trans-retinoic acid treatment. ED rates increased with age but more clearly with poor performance status. ED was also associated with high white blood cells, lactate dehydrogenase, creatinine, C-reactive protein and low platelet count. Of non-ED patients, 97% achieved complete remission of which 16% subsequently relapsed. In total, 62% are still alive at 6.4 years median follow-up. We conclude that ED rates remain very high in an unselected APL population.

The incidence and survival of acute de novo leukaemias in Estonia and in a well-defined region of western Sweden during 1982-1996: a survey of patients aged > or =65 years.

OBJECTIVES: To compare the incidence and survival of acute de novo leukaemias with particular reference to political/socio-economic and environmental factors in two neighbouring countries over the three 5-year periods (1982-1996). PATIENTS: The present report covers only patients diagnosed when aged > or =65 years. SETTING: A well-defined area of Sweden, the so-called Western Swedish Health Care Region and Estonia. Population-wise, the western Swedish Region and Estonia are very similar; area-wise they are also well comparable. RESULTS: The number of acute de novo leukaemias was quite dissimilar in the two countries (Estonia, n = 137, Sweden, n = 354). The age standardized incidence rates regarding the total number of acute de novo leukaemias was 5.31 per 100,000 inhabitants/year for Estonia and 7.99 for Sweden, this difference being statistically significant. However, the difference was merely attributable to incidence rates as regards acute myeloblastic leukaemias (AML); on the contrary, differences as regards acute lymphoblastic leukaemias (ALL) and non-classifiable, undifferentiated or biphenotypic acute leukaemias (uAL) were negligible. The relative survival for the total material of patients was significantly higher for Swedish when compared with Estonian patients (P < 0.001). Thus, the relative survival for the total material of patients aged > or =65 years in Estonia at 1 year was 8.5% and at 3 years 3.5% respectively. The corresponding figures for the Swedish patients were considerably higher, 22.7 and 7.7% respectively. This difference, however, applied only for patients with AML (P < 0.001), whereas the results for patients with ALL and uAL were equally dismal. CONCLUSION: The results clearly reflect how political and socio-economic factors may influence the survival of acute leukemia patients in two neighbouring countries.