Korean Journal of Medicine  2006;70(2):196-206

Acute myelogenous leukemia in the elderly (>or=60): retrospective study of 115 patients.

Hyun Choon SHIN 1 ; Im Il NA ; Tak YUN ; Keun Wook LEE ; Eun Gee SONG ; In Sil CHOI ; Do Youn OH ; Jee Hyun KIM ; Jong Seok LEE ; Sung Soo YOON ; Seonyang PARK ; Byoung Kook KIM ; Noe Kyeong KIM

Affiliations

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Keywords

Acute myelogenous leukemia; Elderly; Prognosis

Country

Republic of Korea

Language

Korean

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) is frequently encountered in elderly patients whereas intensive chemotherapy yield lower rate of complete remission (CR) and survival than young patients. This study was aimed to review the clinical features and treatment outcomes of elderly patients (>or=60) with AML. METHODS: We respectively reviewed the clinical features, laboratory findings and outcomes of treatment from the medical records of 115 patients with the elderly AML (>or=60), admitted in Seoul National University Hospital, between Jan.1995 and Dec.2004. RESULTS: Their median age was 66 (60~86) years with male predominance (M:F=68:47). Complete response rate in patients with conventional chemotherapy was 66.7% (42 of 63 patients; 95% CI 50.2~78.4). Median overall survival (OS) was 5.2 months with clinical benefit in the conventional chemotherapy group, compared to supportive or palliative group (11.5 vs 0.9months; p<0.0001). In between two age groups, the sixties (n=69) showed higher CR rate (69.0 vs 61.9%; p=0.9) and longer median overall survival (7.0 vs 4.4months; p=0.8) than patients group of the seventies (n=38) but without statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS: Conventional induction chemotherapy improved survival rate than palliative or supportive treatment.