Clinical characteristics and outcomes of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in children treated at a single tertiary hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Context: Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) is the most common paediatric cancer worldwide, and it accounts for 30% of all cancer cases in children of Saudi Arabia. Aim: This study aims to describe the clinical characteristics and outcomes of paediatric ALL. Settings and Design: This case series study was conducted at a single tertiary hospital in Saudi Arabia. Methods: Clinical data and outcomes of all patients diagnosed between 2000 and 2010 were collected from medical charts using a custom data collection sheet. Statistical Analysis: Data were analysed using SPSS. Mann–Whitney test was used to compare the median age of diagnosis between different categories as the age was not normally distributed. Results: This study included 50 patients (median age, 4 years; 58% male). The majority (82%) had pre-B-cell ALL and 18% had T-cell ALL. Thirty-one (62%) patients were in the standard risk category, 18 (36%) in the high-risk category and one (2%) in the very high-risk category. Forty-nine (98%) patients achieved complete remission. The remission status was M1 marrow status in 46 (94%) patients. The overall survival and event-free survival rates were 92% and 74%, respectively, with 4 (8%) deaths due to different complications. Conclusion: This is the first 10-year case series study in a single tertiary institution in Saudi Arabia. The clinical characteristics of children with ALL were similar to those reported in the literature. The use of well-defined treatment protocols improved the survival rates to levels that are comparable to those of developed countries.