Cardiotoxicity Related Mortality Among Children with Acute Myeloid Leukemia in Low Middle Income Countries: Is It Treatment or Sepsis Related?

Abstract

Background: Heart disease and cancer are two major causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide, accounting for at least 70% of the medical reasons for mortality across the globe. Modern treatment strategies led to improvements in cancer survival, however, these gains might be offset by the potential negative effect of cancer therapy on cardiovascular health. Over the last few decades, cooperative oncology group trials for pediatric acute myeloid leukemia (AML) have improved overall survival (OS) to nearly 65% by combining intensive chemotherapy with improved supportive care. Despite their efficacy, anthracyclines are linked to an increased risk of cardiotoxicity. Objectives:The study aimed to describe the incidence of cardiotoxicity among pediatric patients with acute myeloid leukemia, assess the effect of cardiotoxicity on treatment outcome in terms of overall survival (OS) and event free survival (EFS) and to determine the different risk factors (Age, gender, body mass index, cumulative doses of anthracyclines and sepsis) that may contribute to cardiotoxicity. Patient and Methods: A retrospective study, conducted at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), Cairo University, Egypt.,that included all pediatric patients ≤ 18 years old diagnosed and treated as Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) during the period from the first of January 2015 to the end of December 2019. Retrospective analysis of the different features of cardiotoxicity associated with the treatment of AML. Results : The study included 142 patients with a median age of 8.5 years old and M/F ratio 1.2:1.Out of the total study population, Eighty four patients (59.2%) developed cardiotoixicity in which 59.5% were acute onset cardiotoxicity and 40.5 % were chronic early cardiotoxicity and there was no detected cases of chronic late cardiotoxicity.Cardiac dysfunction was detected in 65/142 (45.8%) patients at time of death in association with sepsis. The cumulative incidence of cardiotoxicity was higher in the presence of blood stream infection with p value (p<0.001).55/84 (65.5%) patients with cardiotoxicity showed progressive cardiac dysfunction and they all died due to sepsis that was associated with cardiac dysfunction. At the end of the study the OS and EFS were 16.2 % and the median survival time was 1.9 month.The cumulative OS,EFS and the median survival time were reduced in the presence of acute cardiotoxicity with statistical significant p-value (p<0.001). Conclusion: The incidence of cardiotoxicity is high among pediatric AML patients and the most important risk factor for cardiotoxcity is blood stream infection. The Cumulative OS, EFS and median survival time are reduced in patients with acute cardiotoxicity which represents a major challenge that warrants more attention to the field of cardio-oncology.