Outcomes of Acute Myeloid Leukemia Patients in Assiut University Hospital

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a malignant disorder of the bone marrow which is characterized by malignant clonal expansion and differentiation arrest of myeloid progenitor cells.

The etiology of AML is heterogeneous. In some patients, prior exposure to therapeutic, occupational or environmental DNA-damaging agents is implicated, but most cases of AML remain without a clear etiology.

The incidence of AML had been higher than that of the other three subtypes of leukemia ( [ALL], [CML], and [CLL])& accounts for the highest percentage (62%) of leukemic deaths.

AML is primarily a disease of older adults. The age-adjusted incidence for those aged 65 years or older is 20.1 per 100,000 persones in comparison to 2.0 per 100,000 person-years for those younger than 65 years old.

Males are 1.2-1.6 times more likely to develop AML during their lifetime as evidenced by population-based studies in the US, UK, Canada, Denmark, Australia and Algeria. AML is one of the most common form of Hematological Malignancy in adults and has the shortest survival (5-year survival = 24%). Curative therapies, including intensive chemotherapy and allogeneic stem cell transplantation, are generally applicable to a minority of patients who are younger and fit, while most older individuals exhibit poor prognosis and survival. Differences in patient outcomes are influenced by disease characteristics, access to care including active therapies and supportive care, and other factors. After many years without therapeutic advances, several new therapies have been approved and are expected to impact patient outcomes, especially for older patients and those with refractory disease.