Evaluation of the survival rate and its related factors in patients with leukemia in Kurdistan Province

Background and Aim: In recent decades, the survival rates of the children with cancer have improved significantly and their five-year survival rates have reached 80%, but there are still many concerns about the survival of adolescents and young people. Methods and Materials: In this retrospective study, the data of 310 children and adults with leukemia in Kurdistan Province were extracted from their medical records. Univariate and multivariate survival analysis were performed through calculating hazard ratios using Cox relative risk model. Data analysis was carried out using Stata 12 software. Results: This study included 201 adults with mean age of 50.8 years and 109 children with mean age of 5.2 years. The frequency of AML was higher in the adults (30.8%), while the frequency of ALL cases was higher in the children (86.2%). The respective one-year and five-year survival rates, were 94.4% and 49.5% in the adults, and 92.6% and 83% in the children. The hazard ratios (HR) were 5.18 (95% CI: 2.60-13) in the adults with ALL and 4.11 (95% CI: 1.55-10.4) in the adults with AML, and 2.78 (95% CI: 1.05-7.37) in the patients with CML. Based on the results of multivariate analysis, the rate of mortality in children with ALL was lower (HR=0.26, 95% CI: 0.08-0.77). Conclusion: Timely diagnosis and provision of treatment services for the patients are recommended. Considering the high rate of survival in the patients with ALL especially in children, we recommend provision of appropriate treatment facilities and palliative care services, similar to those in other countries, for the patients with different types of leukemia with high rates of mortality. Keywords: Survival rate, Related factors, Leukemia, Children, Adults, Kurdistan.   Received: Apr 26, 2017     Accepted: Feb 12, 2018