Patterns of use of biological and genetic markers for chronic lymphocytic leukemia and acute myeloid leukemia in Puerto Rico.

BACKGROUND: The use of markers has stimulated the development of more appropriate targeted therapies for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). We assessed the use and prevalence of biological and genetic markers of CLL and AML in the homogeneous Hispanic population of Puerto Rico. METHODS: We used the Puerto Rico CLL/AML Population-Based Registry, which combines information from linked databases. Logistic regression models were used to examine factors associated with biological and genetic testing. RESULTS: A total of 926 patients 18 years or older diagnosed with CLL (n = 518) and AML (n = 408) during 2011-2015 were included in this analysis. Cytogenetic testing (FISH) was reported for 441 (85.1%) of the CLL patients; of those, 24.0% had the presence of trisomy 12, 9.5% carried deletion 11q, 50.3% carried deletion 13q, and 6.3% carried deletion 17p. Regarding AML, patients with cytogenetics and molecular tests were considered to determine the risk category (254 patients), of which 39.8% showed poor or adverse risk. Older age and having more comorbidities among patients with CLL were associated with a lower likelihood of receiving a FISH test. CONCLUSIONS: Although prognostic genetic testing is required for treatment decisions, the amount of testing in this Hispanic cohort is far from ideal. Furthermore, some tests were not homogeneously distributed in the population, which requires further exploration and monitoring. This study contributes to the field by informing the medical community about the use and prevalence of biological and genetic markers of CLL and AML. Similarly, it has the potential to improve the management of CLL and AML through benchmarking.

Induction Therapy and Survival for Acute Myeloid Leukemia in Hispanic Adults from Puerto Rico.

BACKGROUND: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is the most common type of leukemia in adults. There are no previous studies evaluating AML treatment patterns in Puerto Rico. We describe the first-line therapy patterns and survival of patients diagnosed with AML in Puerto Rico using the Puerto Rico Central Cancer Registry Health Insurance Linkage Database (2011-2015). METHODS: We describe patient characteristics according to intensive, non-intensive, and non-treatment status. We used Cox proportional hazard models to evaluate the factors associated with the risk of death stratified by intensive and non-intensive therapy. For this study, 385 patients with AML were included. RESULTS: The mean age was 67 years old and 50.1% were female. Nearly half of AML patients (46.8%) received intensive treatment, 23.6% received non-intensive treatment, and 26.2% did not receive treatment. The overall 3-year survival rate was 17.9%. Among those who received intensive therapy, the risk of death among females was lower than males (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.64, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.44-0.93). Patients 60 years or older who received intensive treatment had a higher risk of death than younger patients (HR: 1.67, 95% CI: 1.09-2.55). Patients with poor/adverse risk receiving intensive (HR: 3.43, 95% CI: 1.76-6.69) or non-intensive (HR: 4.32, 95% CI: 1.66-11.28) treatment had a higher risk of death than patients with a favorable risk category. CONCLUSION: Our findings are the first step to monitor the quality of care of patients with AML in Puerto Rico, particularly related to the administration of appropriate induction therapies, which is one of the most important predictors of AML survival.