ACUTE MYELOID LEUKEMIA, EPIDEMIOLOGY an‎d SEASONALITY, A SINGLE CENTER EXPERIENCE

Background and Objectives: In this study we retrospectively evaluated data of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients diagnosed at our center over a span of 7 years. The data was categorized according to FAB classification and then studied for demographic features and for any evidence of seasonality. Methods: This was a cross sectional study conducted at Shaikh Zayed Medical Complex (SZMC), Lahore. In this study we retrospectively evaluated data of AML patients diagnosed over a span of 7 years from 1st July 2001 to 30th June 2008. The data was categorized according to FAB classification and studied for demographic features. We also analysed the cohort for number of acute myeloid leukemias presenting in each month of the year to assess for any evidence of seasonality. Results: Ninety eight patients of AML were studied, 55 males and 43 females. Eleven patients belonged to the paediatric age group with a male to female ratio of 1.2:1; and 87 were adults, male to female ratio of 1.28:1. The mean age of the entire cohort was 37.08 ± 21.63 years. For adult cases the mean age came to 40.93 ± 19.91 years and for paediatric group the mean age was 7.33 ± 4.05 years. M2 category was most common (38 cases) and collectively M2 and M4 contributed 57% of the entire cohort. Monthly distribution of cases showed a prominent peak (30 cases, 30.5%) in the months of September and October. M2 and M4 collectively contributed 22 out of these 30 cases (p value 0.05). Conclusion: AML M2 and M4 were the most common categories of FAB classification at our Centre. There was a significant increase in the presentation of AML M2 and M4 cases in the months of September and October.