Impact of international collaboration on the prognosis of childhood acute promyelocytic leukemia in Iraq.

The promotion of an operational network between hospitals and medical schools in Iraq and in Western countries is a primary humanitarian objective of international collaboration. As a consequence of a collaborative project between the Al Mansour Hospital for Pediatrics in Baghdad and the Pediatric Unit of Hematology of "La Sapienza" University, in Rome, in October 2003 a specific all-trans-retinoic acid-based protocol was designed in order to offer a modern therapeutic program for the management of Iraqi children with acute promyelocytic leukemia, adapted to the severe local difficulties. The preliminary encouraging results represent a substantial improvement over the earlier experience in childhood acute promyelocytic leukemia in Iraq.