Thesis (Ph.D.) - Cairo University - National Cancer Institute - Department of Pediatric Oncology

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine prognostic factors, overall survival (OS), event free survival (EFS) and toxicity of therapy in patients with Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia (APL). Design/Method:This is a partially retrospective partially prospective cohort study that included 36 patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL); diagnosed and treated at Pediatric Oncology Department of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), in the period between 1st of January 2008 and 31st of December 2015. All evaluable patients were treated for induction with simultaneous administration of All-Trans Retinoic Acid (ATRA) and an anthracycline. The original Children's Oncology Group (COG) AAML0631 protocol was modified, due to resource limitations at the NCI-Cairo, by replacing of idarubicin with doxorubicin in most of the cases and omitting first consolidation as Arsenic Trioxide (ATO) was not available. Results: Twenty boys (55.6%) and 16 girls (44.4%) were included in this study. The Median age at diagnosis was 12 years. The White Blood Cell (WBC) count at presentation was > 10 x109/L in 16 patients (44.4%). Bleeding was the most common presenting symptom (83.3%). Complete Remission (CR) was achieved in 32 patients (88.8%); the remaining four patients had Early Death (ED); two due to hemorrhage, one due to differentiation syndrome and one patient died due to sepsis

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