Impact of Health Care Insurance Status on Treatment Outcomes of Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

INTRODUCTION: Insurance status has been found to influence treatment outcomes in various solid tumors. Limited data with conflicting results are available in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). We examined the impact of health insurance at diagnosis on AML treatment outcomes. PATIENTS AND METHODS: All consecutive adult patients (≥ 18 years of age) diagnosed with AML between 2002 and 2011 and followed through August 2013 were included. Survival estimates were calculated by Kaplan-Meier survival curves. Logistic regression and multivariate Cox proportional hazards methods were used to explore the influence of multiple baseline covariates on treatment outcomes. RESULTS: A total of 217 patients with complete medical records were identified. Of these, 161 patients had complete cytogenetic/molecular data for risk stratification and were included in the final efficacy analyses. Most patients (45.8%) were publicly insured, 36.3% were privately insured, and 17.3% were uninsured. No significant association was found between insurance source and cytogenetic/molecular risk status. Transplantation information was available for 157 patients, with no significant association found between transplant receipt and insurance source. After adjustment for age, cytogenetic/molecular risk, and transplant receipt, we found no statistically significant association between the insurance source and either event-free or overall survival. CONCLUSION: Insurance source at diagnosis has no impact on AML treatment outcomes. The consistency of our results with some, but not all, studies is probably driven primarily by access-to-care eligibility requirements among different states. Further efforts to better understand such disparities are warranted.

Microbial contamination of hematopoietic progenitor cell grafts-incidence, clinical outcome, and cost-effectiveness: an analysis of 735 grafts.

BACKGROUND: Screening of progenitor cell grafts (marrow, peripheral blood, and cord blood) for microbial contamination is required by the standards of AABB. Clinical sequelae from infusion of these contaminated grafts, however, is uncommon. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: A retrospective analysis of 735 consecutive marrow and peripheral blood progenitor cell harvests between 1998 and 2003 was performed. Analysis included incidence, clinical outcome, and cost outcomes of positive blood cultures and antibiotic therapy. RESULTS: Thirty-three of 735 (4.5%) harvests were contaminated. The incidence of microbial contamination varied with the source of the graft (4 of 26 [15%] were cord blood, 8 of 177 [4.5%] were marrow, and 21 of 532 [3.9%] were peripheral blood). Coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (n=22) and Propionibacterium acnes (n=8) were most frequently isolated. Potentially pathogenic organisms were isolated in 6 of 735 (0.81%) grafts (methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus, 4; methicillin-resistant S. aureus, 1; and Enterobacter cloacae, 1). The estimated total cost of surveillance was approximately $81,585. The cost of vancomycin therapy in 4 patients who received prophylactic antibiotic therapy was approximately $10,000. No adverse sequelae followed infusion of contaminated grafts. CONCLUSION: Clinical sequelae following infusion of microbially contaminated progenitor cells is extremely rare. Prophylactic empiric antibiotics may be unnecessary. Routine microbial surveillance of progenitor cell grafts is a low-yield procedure.