Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: Fourteen Years Experience of a Single Institution

Authors

  • KP Sah Assistant Professor and Consultant Paediatric Oncologist, Oncology Unit of Kanti Children’s Hospital, Maharajgunj, Kathmandu
  • PN Shrestha Assistant Professor, Oncology Unit of Kanti Children’s Hospital, Maharajgunj, Kathmandu

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3126/jnps.v34i1.9056

Keywords:

ALL, Leukemia, Five year survival, Remission

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%.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jnps.v34i1.9056

J Nepal Paediatr Soc 2014;34(1):1-6

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Published

2014-03-24

How to Cite

Sah, K., & Shrestha, P. (2014). Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: Fourteen Years Experience of a Single Institution. Journal of Nepal Paediatric Society, 34(1), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.3126/jnps.v34i1.9056

Issue

Vol. 34 No. 1 (2014)

Section

Original Articles

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