OBJECTIVETo investigate the characteristics and the short- or long-term treatment outcomes of the adult patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in China.

METHODSFrom 1999 to 2010, 822 adult cases with AML were enrolled, diagnosed and classified by the FAB and WHO criteria, respectively. The treatment outcomes and prognostic factors were analyzed retrospectively.

RESULTSIn all patients with a median age of 38.5(15-83) years, acute monoblastic and monocytic leukemia (M5), AML with t(15;17)/PML-RARα (APL) and AML with t(8;21)/AML1-ETO(M2b) were the most common subtypes, accounting for 29.7%, 20.9% and 14.6% respectively. In APL patients, CR was achieved in 95.2%, with an early death (ED) rate of 4.8%. And the estimated overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) at 5 year was 87.5% and 88.8%, respectively. Patients with other AML subtype (Non-APL) revealed a CR rate of 82.0%, ED of 4.3%, and estimated 5-year OS and DFS both of 48.8%. The OS rate of Non-APL patients at 3-year varied significantly (P<0.01) among three prognostic groups by cytogenetic risk stratification:favorable, 69.5%; intermediate, 52.8%; unfavorable, 29.8%. The prognostic factors for OS among Non-APL included age, cytogenetic abnormalities, courses of the median/high-dose cytarabine and allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

CONCLUSIONWhen compared with the previous reports, the AML patients in our study were younger and showed a different subtype distribution. Treatment outcomes of APL and Non-APL were just the same as those in international leukemia centers. Chemotherapy by risk stratification, after diagnosis and classification according to the WHO criteria, is a key point to improve the outcomes in AML.