Some Hematological Indices as Predictors of Survival in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Patients

Abstract

Background: Despite the promising of introduction of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) remains a significant cause of annual mortality. Red blood cell distribution width (RDW), neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR) are parameters derived from a complete blood count (CBC) commonly used to diagnose anemia, autoimmune diseases, and inflammation. These parameters have been reported to have a strong association with various diseases, including hematologic malignancies. Objectives: The study aims to identify whether RDW, NLR, and PLR can act as predictors of survival in newly diagnosed and treated CML patients. Materials and Methods: The study involved 60 Iraqi patients (37 males, 23 females, aged 17–69 years) with CML at chronic phase, who were referred to the National Center of Hematology/Mustansiriyah University, Baghdad, from February 2022 to December 2022. Twenty were newly diagnosed (T0), and 40 were under TKI treatment (T+), with 20 on imatinib and 20 on nilotinib. Additionally, a control group of 20 age- and gender-matched healthy subjects was included. CBC assessed red blood cell (RBC) indices across all groups. Results: There was no significant difference in the age of CML patients at the onset of disease between males (34.5 ± 11.7 years) and females (34 ± 11.9 years). Likewise, there was no significant difference in the treatment of CML patients with imatinib or nilotinib between males (48% and 52%) and females (53.3% and 47.7%), respectively. Most RBC indices for patients and controls were within normal ranges without significant differences. However, RDW% in T0 was markedly elevated (20.4%), with about 80% showing anisocytosis, surpassing both T+ and controls, and exceeding the upper limit of normal. The total and differential white blood cell (WBC) counts were significantly higher in T0 compared to T+, exceeding their normal ranges. Additionally, the NLR was significantly higher in T0 (8.13) compared with T+ and controls (1.80 and 1.87, respectively). Platelet count, mean platelet volume, and platelet distribution width (PDW%) differed significantly among the three groups but remained within the normal range. However, PLR in T0 (31 ± 24) was significantly lower than those in T+ and controls (130 ± 43 and 102 ± 27, respectively). Conclusion: It can be concluded that the monitoring of some parameters in peripheral blood in CBC test (as a simple and inexpensive test) such as RDW%, NLR%, and PLR% during the therapy course of CML patients may act as predictive markers to evaluate the prognosis of disease in CML patients and the degree of response to certain TKI treatment.