Vivek S Radhakrishnan1, Narendra Agrawal2, Bhausaheb Bagal3, Ishan Patel4. 1. Department of Clinical Hematology, Oncology, and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, Tata Medical Center, Kolkata, India. Electronic address: drvivekradhakrishnan@yahoo.com. 2. Department of Clinical Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplantation, Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute and Research Centre, New Delhi, India. 3. Department of Medical Oncology, Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai, India. 4. Department of Medical Affairs, Pfizer Biopharmaceutical Group Emerging Market, Mumbai, India.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: In the present systematic literature review, we sought to describe the burden and treatment practices of adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in India, which reflect the realities and outcomes in a middle-income country. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a search for reported studies using terms such as "adult ALL," "epidemiology," and "treatment" in the Medline, Embase, Cochrane, and other database sources. We obtained 249 articles and 18 conference abstracts reported until December 2019. A total of 40 studies were selected to qualitatively summarize the data. RESULTS: The proportion of ALL among adult patients diagnosed with acute leukemia at reporting institutions from 16 Indian studies ranged from 7.3% to 57.8%. Most studies were performed in Northern India (n = 12), had a male preponderance (range, 57%-80%), and had a predominance of B-ALL (range, 65.2%-75.9%). The treatment protocols used for ALL included MCP-841, BFM (Berlin-Frankfurt-Münster)-90, chemotherapy plus a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, GMALL (German Multicenter Study Group for Adult Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia), and hyper-CVAD (cyclophosphamide, vincristine, doxorubicin, dexamethasone). The complete remission rates and median overall survival for these protocols ranged from 46.7% to 91.4% and 7 to 46 months, respectively. The overall relapse rates were 24.3% to 57.1% within median time of 9 to 24 months, with bone marrow the most frequent relapse site. After relapse, most patients had chosen palliative therapy (range, 78.7%-96.0%). The major treatment-related toxicities included neutropenia, myelosuppression, and infection. CONCLUSIONS: The results from Indian studies on adult ALL are heterogeneous, reporting a diverse incidence and poor overall outcomes using varied non-contemporaneous treatment protocols adapted from the developed world. A comprehensive countrywide approach to diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up and the potential incorporation of novel therapies could improve the prognosis and outcomes of adult ALL in India.
BACKGROUND: In the present systematic literature review, we sought to describe the burden and treatment practices of adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in India, which reflect the realities and outcomes in a middle-income country. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a search for reported studies using terms such as "adult ALL," "epidemiology," and "treatment" in the Medline, Embase, Cochrane, and other database sources. We obtained 249 articles and 18 conference abstracts reported until December 2019. A total of 40 studies were selected to qualitatively summarize the data. RESULTS: The proportion of ALL among adult patients diagnosed with acute leukemia at reporting institutions from 16 Indian studies ranged from 7.3% to 57.8%. Most studies were performed in Northern India (n = 12), had a male preponderance (range, 57%-80%), and had a predominance of B-ALL (range, 65.2%-75.9%). The treatment protocols used for ALL included MCP-841, BFM (Berlin-Frankfurt-Münster)-90, chemotherapy plus a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, GMALL (German Multicenter Study Group for Adult Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia), and hyper-CVAD (cyclophosphamide, vincristine, doxorubicin, dexamethasone). The complete remission rates and median overall survival for these protocols ranged from 46.7% to 91.4% and 7 to 46 months, respectively. The overall relapse rates were 24.3% to 57.1% within median time of 9 to 24 months, with bone marrow the most frequent relapse site. After relapse, most patients had chosen palliative therapy (range, 78.7%-96.0%). The major treatment-related toxicities included neutropenia, myelosuppression, and infection. CONCLUSIONS: The results from Indian studies on adult ALL are heterogeneous, reporting a diverse incidence and poor overall outcomes using varied non-contemporaneous treatment protocols adapted from the developed world. A comprehensive countrywide approach to diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up and the potential incorporation of novel therapies could improve the prognosis and outcomes of adult ALL in India.