Objective:
To describe the long-term outcomes of acute myeloid leukemia (aml) and to study clinicopathological features at presentation, morphological subtypes and remission rates.
Methods:
Demographic information, response to therapy and survival of patients (>14 years of age) admitted between january 1988 to august 1996 with acute myeloid leukaemia was retrieved and analysed.
Results:
Seventy-four patients were admitted with a diagnosis of aml during the study period. there were 43 males and 31 females. age ranged between 15 and 70 years with a mean age of 38 years. the most common presenting feature was fever (67.5%) and the morphological subtype according to french-american-british group (fab) criteria was m4. fifty-five patients received treatment and were evaluable for response and outcomes. thirty-six (65.4%) patients had complete remission. sixteen (29.1%) died during the first 28 days after starting induction chemotherapy. the median survival was 11 months. six (11%) patients (4 females, 2 males) are surviving beyond 4 years (long-term survivors).
Conclusion:
Our study suggests that the long-term outcomes of adults with aml are comparable to what has been reported in the literature for patients who do not receive bone marrow transplants.