Remission Rate of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) in Adolescents and Young Adults (AYA).

Objective: To determine the remission rate in adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

Study Design: Descriptive study.

Place And Duration Of Study: Department of Oncology, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), Karachi from January, 2016 to March, 2017.

Methodology: Adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients aged 15-39 years, newly diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia from January, 2016 to March, 2017. Diagnosis was confirmed by bone marrow trephine biopsy and immunophenotyping. All the patients were treated with daunorubicin, vincristine, prednisone, and L-asparaginase in the induction phase. The response evaluation was done on day 35 of the induction phase and the remission rate was assessed by the bone marrow examination.

Results: Of the total 50 AYA patients diagnosed with ALL, 41 patients could complete induction phase and 9 patients died during the first week of induction, therefore excluded from the study. Forty (97.8%) patients were <35years of age, 28 (68.3%) were male, of female 10 (24.4%) were housewives, 33 (80.5%) patients belonged to Sindh, 28 (68.3%) presented with fever and body ache, 17 (41.5%) patients had precursor B cell type ALL, with 7 (17.1%) patients had hemoglobin of <7 g/dL,11 (26.8%) patients had white cell count of >30x109/L, platelet count of <20x103/µL in 6 (14.6%) patients and complete morphological remission was reported in 29 (70.7%) patients.

Conclusion: The remission induction rate was 70.7% in the adolescents and young adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia at the study centre.