Secondary Acute Myeloid Leukemia and the Role of Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation in a Population-Based Setting.

Secondary AML (s-AML), including AML with an antecedent hematologic disorder (AHD-AML) and therapy-related AML (t-AML), constitutes a large proportion of patients with AML and is considered to confer a dismal prognosis. The role of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) in patients with s-AML and the extent to which HCT is performed in these patients has been little studied to date. We used the population-based Swedish AML Registry comprising 3337 intensively treated adult patients over a 17-year period to study the role of HCT within the group of patients with s-AML as well as compared with patients with de novo AML.

Caring Through Web-Based Communication: A Qualitative Evaluation of a Nursing Intervention to Create Holistic Well-Being Among Patients With Hematological Disease.

Purpose: To examine how written communication between patients with hematological diseases and a nurse within a web-based communication service can be caring.

Design: The study is based on qualitative deductive content analysis of 109 written messages between 10 patients and a responding nurse. The evaluated nursing intervention is a web-based communication service where patients could request support from a responding nurse during 2 months of use.

Acute de novo Leukemia in Estonia and Western Sweden 1982-2006: Positive Trend in the Survival of Acute Leukemia over 25 Years.

This study focuses on the incidence, treatment, and survival of de novo acute leukemia in a 25-year perspective in western Sweden and Estonia. At the beginning of our study, Estonia was a part of the Eastern bloc with planned economy, but since 1991 it is a member of the European Union and transforming into a market economy. Survival rates have steadily increased in both countries.

Association between TERT promoter polymorphisms and acute myeloid leukemia risk and prognosis.

Telomerase reverse transcriptase gene (TERT) promoter mutations are identified in many malignancies but not in hematological malignancies. Here we analyzed TERT and protection of telomeres 1 gene (POT1) mutations, and four different TERT SNVs in 226 acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients and 806 healthy individuals in a case referent design, where also overall survival was assessed. A significant association for increased risk of AML was found for TERT SNVs, rs2853669 (OR = 2.

Acute Myeloid Leukemia in Adolescents and Young Adults Treated in Pediatric and Adult Departments in the Nordic Countries.

Background: Studies on adolescents and young adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia suggest better results when using pediatric protocols for adult patients, while corresponding data for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) are limited.

Procedure: We investigated disease characteristics and outcome for de novo AML patients 10-30 years old treated in pediatric or adult departments. We included 166 patients 10-18 years of age with AML treated according to the pediatric NOPHO-protocols (1993-2009) compared with 253 patients aged 15-30 years treated in hematology departments (1996-2009) in the Nordic countries.