Acute Myeloid Leukemia: To Treat or Not to Treat – Experience from a Resource-limited Setting

BACKGROUND: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a group of hematologic malignancies characterized by proliferation of blasts of myeloid lineage in the bone marrow and or peripheral blood or tissues. Treatment outcome remains abysmal in our locality. OBJECTIVE: The aim was to determine the impact of trea...

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Main Authors: Kaladada I. Korubo, Akpevwe Deborah Maduka, Emmanuel Wobo, Gracia Ekeh, Hannah E. Omunakwe, Linda Anucha Dublin-Green, Chijioke Adonye Nwauche
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2025-01-01
Series:Journal of Applied Hematology
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Online Access:https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/joah.joah_80_24
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author Kaladada I. Korubo
Akpevwe Deborah Maduka
Emmanuel Wobo
Gracia Ekeh
Hannah E. Omunakwe
Linda Anucha Dublin-Green
Chijioke Adonye Nwauche
author_facet Kaladada I. Korubo
Akpevwe Deborah Maduka
Emmanuel Wobo
Gracia Ekeh
Hannah E. Omunakwe
Linda Anucha Dublin-Green
Chijioke Adonye Nwauche
author_sort Kaladada I. Korubo
collection DOAJ
description BACKGROUND: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a group of hematologic malignancies characterized by proliferation of blasts of myeloid lineage in the bone marrow and or peripheral blood or tissues. Treatment outcome remains abysmal in our locality. OBJECTIVE: The aim was to determine the impact of treatment on survival in AML patients in a resource-limited setting. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A 5-year retrospective study was conducted in two tertiary healthcare facilities in Nigeria. Data were retrieved from the case files of patients diagnosed with AML from July 2016 to June 2021. RESULTS: A total of 53 patients; males (n = 28, 52.8%), females (n = 25, 47.2%). Majority (n = 49; 92.5%) had anemia (mean hemoglobin 6.8 ± 2.2 g/dL); 41 (77.4%) leukocytosis (median white blood cell 61 × 109/L); 46 (86.8%) thrombocytopenia; (median platelets 39 × 109/L); while 4 (7.5%) had pancytopenia. The most frequent FAB morphological subtypes of AML were M2 (n = 17, 32.1%; [males, n = 7, 41.2%; females, n = 10, 58.8%]) and M1 (n = 11, 20.8%; [males, n = 7, 63.6%; females, n = 4, 36.4%]). Seven (13.2%) were lost to follow-up. Twenty-six (49.1%) did not receive chemotherapy while 27 (50.9%) received chemotherapy; DA 3 + 7 given as daunorubicin 50 mg/m2 days 1–3 and intravenous cytarabine 100 mg days 1–7 was the most common regimen. The overall mortality rate for all patients was 75.5%. The treated arm had a higher mortality rate of 81.5% compared to the untreated arm (69.2%), however, this was not statistically significant (P = 0.3). Median survival for all patients was 1.0 month, with a 3-year survival rate of 5.92%. There was no difference in the median survival of patients who received versus those who did not receive chemotherapy (1.03 months vs. 0.97 months; P = 0.49). CONCLUSION: AML remains an aggressive malignancy with grave outcome in our resource-limited setting despite receiving chemotherapy.
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spelling doaj-art-60deb1ea686c4fa98ea6d5c9493aa1ae2025-08-20T03:08:23ZengWolters Kluwer Medknow PublicationsJournal of Applied Hematology1658-51272454-69762025-01-01161333710.4103/joah.joah_80_24Acute Myeloid Leukemia: To Treat or Not to Treat – Experience from a Resource-limited SettingKaladada I. KoruboAkpevwe Deborah MadukaEmmanuel WoboGracia EkehHannah E. OmunakweLinda Anucha Dublin-GreenChijioke Adonye NwaucheBACKGROUND: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a group of hematologic malignancies characterized by proliferation of blasts of myeloid lineage in the bone marrow and or peripheral blood or tissues. Treatment outcome remains abysmal in our locality. OBJECTIVE: The aim was to determine the impact of treatment on survival in AML patients in a resource-limited setting. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A 5-year retrospective study was conducted in two tertiary healthcare facilities in Nigeria. Data were retrieved from the case files of patients diagnosed with AML from July 2016 to June 2021. RESULTS: A total of 53 patients; males (n = 28, 52.8%), females (n = 25, 47.2%). Majority (n = 49; 92.5%) had anemia (mean hemoglobin 6.8 ± 2.2 g/dL); 41 (77.4%) leukocytosis (median white blood cell 61 × 109/L); 46 (86.8%) thrombocytopenia; (median platelets 39 × 109/L); while 4 (7.5%) had pancytopenia. The most frequent FAB morphological subtypes of AML were M2 (n = 17, 32.1%; [males, n = 7, 41.2%; females, n = 10, 58.8%]) and M1 (n = 11, 20.8%; [males, n = 7, 63.6%; females, n = 4, 36.4%]). Seven (13.2%) were lost to follow-up. Twenty-six (49.1%) did not receive chemotherapy while 27 (50.9%) received chemotherapy; DA 3 + 7 given as daunorubicin 50 mg/m2 days 1–3 and intravenous cytarabine 100 mg days 1–7 was the most common regimen. The overall mortality rate for all patients was 75.5%. The treated arm had a higher mortality rate of 81.5% compared to the untreated arm (69.2%), however, this was not statistically significant (P = 0.3). Median survival for all patients was 1.0 month, with a 3-year survival rate of 5.92%. There was no difference in the median survival of patients who received versus those who did not receive chemotherapy (1.03 months vs. 0.97 months; P = 0.49). CONCLUSION: AML remains an aggressive malignancy with grave outcome in our resource-limited setting despite receiving chemotherapy.https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/joah.joah_80_24acute myeloid leukemianigeriaresource limitedtreatment
spellingShingle Kaladada I. Korubo
Akpevwe Deborah Maduka
Emmanuel Wobo
Gracia Ekeh
Hannah E. Omunakwe
Linda Anucha Dublin-Green
Chijioke Adonye Nwauche
Acute Myeloid Leukemia: To Treat or Not to Treat – Experience from a Resource-limited Setting
Journal of Applied Hematology
acute myeloid leukemia
nigeria
resource limited
treatment
title Acute Myeloid Leukemia: To Treat or Not to Treat – Experience from a Resource-limited Setting
title_full Acute Myeloid Leukemia: To Treat or Not to Treat – Experience from a Resource-limited Setting
title_fullStr Acute Myeloid Leukemia: To Treat or Not to Treat – Experience from a Resource-limited Setting
title_full_unstemmed Acute Myeloid Leukemia: To Treat or Not to Treat – Experience from a Resource-limited Setting
title_short Acute Myeloid Leukemia: To Treat or Not to Treat – Experience from a Resource-limited Setting
title_sort acute myeloid leukemia to treat or not to treat experience from a resource limited setting
topic acute myeloid leukemia
nigeria
resource limited
treatment
url https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/joah.joah_80_24
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