Features of childhood acute myeloid leukemia in Iran: A report from double center study

Acute Myeloblastic Leukemia is one of the important malignancies in children. For better managing the prognosis of this disease, there should be enough information about common features of this malignancy. The aim of this study was to evaluate these common features in children with Acute Myeloblastic Leukemia. A total of 104 eligible children less than 15-year-old have been referred from 2007-2011 to two referral centers for childhood malignancies. Basic epidemiological information recorded in checklists for each individual. Analyzes have been done by SPSS version 22. Out of patients, 57 cases were males (54.8). The male/female ratio was 1.2. The mean age of patients was 6.5 ± 4.3 years. The majority subtypes of patients were M3, M4, non-M3, and M2, respectively. The common molecular abnormalities were t (15;17) and inv (16). Of patients, 19.2 had an early relapse. The mean age of relapse in patients was 6.7 ± 3.9 years. Sixty patients (57.7) were alive, and 44 cases (42.3) died during or after therapy. The three years overall survival rate of patients was 42 in this study. According to our data, AML has the same frequency as compared with data from developing countries. But different epidemiological characteristic was a lower rate of three years overall survival in patients. These data may serve the health authorities for more effective environmental and preventive measurements, purposeful allocation of resources for facilitating upto-date diagnostic and treatment modalities, psychological support programs for respective family members and educational purposes. © 2015 Tehran University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved

Effects of L-asparginase administration on anticoagulant proteins and platelet function in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Introduction: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia is one the most common malignancies in children and adolescents. L-asparginase (L-ASP) is one of the leading medications in treatment of ALL. L.ASP interferes with the synthesis of some coagulation proteins and therefore causing disturbance in normal coagulation. In this study, the effects of L-ASP on anticoagulant proteins (protein C, protein S, and antithrombin III) and platelet function were assessed. Material and methods: This was a before-after study on 41 patients with ALL who refered to Mahak hospital (Tehran, Iran). Before and after the injection of L.ASP, a bleeding time test was performed based on Ivy method. Protein C and protein S performance was assessed by turbidometry and antithrombin III performance was evaluated by chromogenic method. Results: 48.8 of patients were female. Mean (±SD) of age was 4.0±7.2. A significant reduction in the mean amount of protein C, antithrombin III and bleeding time was recorded. However, the reduction in protein S was not significant. No patient showed the symptoms of thrombosis. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that L. ASP drug reduced coagulation proteins (except the protein S). This decrease along with other concomitant genetic factors can lead to thrombosis in some patients with ALL during induction therapy