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Acute myeloid leukemia

Treatment, trial participation and survival in adult acute myeloid leukemia: a population-based study in the Netherlands, 1989–2012

Leukemia volume 30, pages 24–31 (2016)Cite this article

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Abstract

Large, comprehensive population-based studies in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) are scarce. We conducted a nationwide population-based study on treatment, trial participation and survival among all adult patients diagnosed with AML (n=12 032) and acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL; n=585) in the Netherlands between 1989–2012. Patients were categorized into four periods and four age groups (18–40, 41–60, 61–70 and >70 years). The application of allogeneic stem cell transplantation increased over time among AML patients up to age 70 years. For APL patients, the use of chemotherapy increased across all age groups. When a clinical trial was open for accrual in the Netherlands, the inclusion rates were 68%, 57%, 30% and 12% for AML patients in the four age groups, respectively (data for APL unavailable). Relative survival improved over time among AML (up to age 70 years) and APL patients. In the period 2007–2012, 5-year relative survival rates were 54%, 38%, 14% and 2% for AML patients and 84%, 75%, 54% and 37% for APL patients in the four age groups, respectively. As survival remained poor for older AML patients over the last two decades, clinical trials and active participation in those trials, are warranted that explore innovative treatment strategies for this elderly population.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Dutch-Belgian Cooperative Trial Group for Hemato-Oncology (HOVON) and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) for permission to use data on trial participation from their clinical AML trials for this research. We also thank the Stem Cell Transplantation (SCT) Working Party of the HOVON for permission to use data on SCTs for this study. We are grateful to Dr Mirian Brink (Netherlands Comprehensive Cancer Organisation) for additional data analysis. The contents of this publication and methods used are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the EORTC. This work was supported by a grant from The Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMw; grant #152001007).

Author contributions

AGD, OV and MJ-L designed the study; OV analyzed the data; OV, YvN and JJC collected the data; AGD wrote the manuscript with contributions from OV, YvN, NMNA, JJC, GAH, PCH, PS, AAvdL, GJO, BL and MJ-L; and all authors read, commented on and approved the final version of the manuscript.

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  1. A G Dinmohamed and O Visser: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Hematology, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    A G Dinmohamed, J J Cornelissen, P Sonneveld, B Löwenberg & M Jongen-Lavrencic

  2. Netherlands Comprehensive Cancer Organisation, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    O Visser & P C Huijgens

  3. Clinical Trial Center-HOVON Data Center, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Y van Norden

  4. Department of Hematology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    N M A Blijlevens & G A Huls

  5. Department of Hematology, VU University Medical Center, Cancer Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    P C Huijgens, A A van de Loosdrecht & G J Ossenkoppele

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  1. A G Dinmohamed
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Correspondence to M Jongen-Lavrencic.

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Dinmohamed, A., Visser, O., van Norden, Y. et al. Treatment, trial participation and survival in adult acute myeloid leukemia: a population-based study in the Netherlands, 1989–2012. Leukemia 30, 24–31 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/leu.2015.188

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