Clinico-epidemiological features and response in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia at regional cancer center of Northeast India

Introduction: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) comprises 19.3% of all childhood cancers in Northeast India. Methods: We analyzed clinicoepidemiological features and early response to the treatment of all the cases of childhood ALL (age <15 years) diagnosed and treated at Dr. B Borooah Cancer Institute over 1 year. Results: Of 52 eligible cases, 69% were male (male:female ratio of 2.2:1) and the mean age was 7.1 years. Thirty-three children (63%) had baseline white blood cell count >= 20 x 10(9)/L. Precursor B-cell was most the common subtype seen in 61% of children. Seven cases (14%) had high-risk (HR) cytogenetics,with t (9,22) being the most common one. Male sex and HR cytogenetics were significantly associated with poor early responses. Conclusion:ALL is a common childhood malignancy with high cure rates. However, poor socioeconomic status and the presence of higher proportions of disease-related factors lead to poor outcome in this part of the country.