[The age and sex frequencies of patients with leukemia seen in two reference centers in the metropolitan area of Mexico City].

INTRODUCTION In developing countries, there is commonly a lack of population-based cancer registries or underreporting, thus not recognizing the true dimensions of the problem. AIM To describe the age and sex frequencies of the major subtypes of leukemias in two hospitals of reference in the metropolitan area of Mexico City. MATERIAL AND METHODS This is a descriptive and retrospective study, based on medical records of two hematology services during January 2007 to October 2014; all cases diagnosed with leukemia were included. RESULTS A total of 1,432 cases were included with a median age of 38 years (range, two months to 115 years). There were significant age differences between subtypes of leukemia (ANOVA test, p = 0.000): chronic lymphocytic with a mean age of 64.8 years, higher than chronic myeloid (43.4 years) and all acute leukemias (lymphoblastic: 32.6 years, myeloblastic 43.5 years). Of the patients, 51.8% (n = 742) were women, although males predominated in chronic myeloid (57.8%) and lymphocytic (60%) leukemia. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia was the more common variety, FABL2 subtype, followed by myeloid leukemia M4, M2, and chronic myeloid. CONCLUSIONS It is necessary to develop inter-institutional works in order to group data of different population sectors and improve the epidemiological profile of leukemia in Mexico.