Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: Fourteen Years Experience of a Single Institution

Abstract

Introduction: Leukemia commonly known as blood cancer is the most common malignant neoplasm in childhood accounting for about 41 % of all malignancies that occur in children younger than 15 year of age. The objectives of this study were to find out the clinico-laboratory features and survival of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) during fourteen years in pediatric oncology unit of a tertiary care hospital. Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective study conducted at Kanti Children's Hospital (KCH) from March 1998 to March 2012. Bone marrow aspiration showing ≥25 % blast cells was the criteria for diagnosis of ALL. Results: Out of 755 childhood cancers reported in this hospital during study period, total number of Acute leukemia patients were 375 (49.7%). Among acute leukemia, patients with ALL were 300, which was 80.0 % among all leukemias and 39.7% of all cases of cancers. Among cases of ALL, L1, L2 and L3 constituted 163 (54.3%), 131 (43.7%) and 6 (2%) respectively. The age of the children with acute leukemia ranged from six months to fourteen years, with a mean age of 7.3 years. The majority of children (61.7 %) with ALL fell into the age group of 2-9 years. Males: Female ratio was (M:F=1.3:1 ). The most common presenting features in ALL were fever (89.2 %), followed by splenomegaly (89.1%), hepatomegaly (69.2%) and lymphadenopathy (58.4 %). Among all patients, remission rate was 28.3% at ≥ 5 years, 17.7% were on maintenance, 30.3% abandoned treatment and 23.7 % died. Conclusion: This study showed that the patients on remission at ≥ 5 years in this centre were 28.3%.

Prevalence of acute myeloid leukemia and its associated risk factors at a tertiary care center: a retrospective cross-sectional study

“…A study from Pakistan also showed similar results, where fever (80.4%), pallor (46.4%), and weakness (46.4%) were the most common clinical features in AML patients 10 . However, in one study conducted in Kanti Children Hospital, Nepal, the most common presenting features in ALL, closely related to AML, were fever (89.2%), followed by splenomegaly (89.1%), hepatomegaly (69.2%), and lymphadenopathy (58.4%) 12 .…”

Serum D-dimer Level in Patients with Acute Leukemia in a Tertiary Care Hospital

“…Similar L2-ALL predominance was observed by Nasim et al however Humayun et al and Gupta showed L1 as the most common subtype. [37][38][39] Usually ALL subtype is more prevalent in children younger than 15 40 As all of our respondents were aged more than 13 years old, real scenario may come out altered here. Total patients su ering from AML were.…”

Outcome of ALL With ALL-BFM-95 Protocol in Nepal

“…2 , 3 Data published from Nepal on 300 patients of childhood ALL between 1998 and 2012 showed a 5-year EFS of 28% only. 4 Data on survival outcome are even more limited in the adult population, and there is no evidence originating from LMICs to concur with the survival data from the developed countries. The health care system in Nepal only has a handful of medical centers in large cities which provide oncology services to the entire population.…”