Clinical Profiles and Survival of Children with Acute Lymphoblastic
Leukemia in South West Uganda
Abstract
Background: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the commonest
childhood cancer globally. We described the clinical features at
diagnosis and established the overall survival of children diagnosed
with ALL at our Pediatric Cancer Unit. Methods: In August 2020, we
retrospectively studied children <16 years diagnosed with ALL
over a 4-year period (June 2016 to May 2020) at Mbarara Regional
Referral Hospital (MRRH) in south west Uganda. Frequencies and
proportions of baseline clinical features and treatment outcomes were
described. Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox proportional hazard regression
model were performed to estimate overall survival and identify its
predictors respectively. Ethical approval was obtained from Research
Ethics Committee of Mbarara University of Science and Technology.
Results: Within the 4-year period, 301 children were diagnosed with
cancer; 51 (16.9%) with ALL. Forty-four (86.3%) presented with fever,
28 (54.9%) cough, 21(41.2%) bleeding tendencies, 20(39.4%) limb pains
and 8(15.7%) abdominal distension. Forty-four (86.3%) had pallor,
39(76.5%) lymphadenopathy, 37(72.5%) hepatosplenomegaly, 18(35.3%)
pyrexia, 12(23.5%) bone tenderness and 11(21.6%) petechia. Thirty
(58.8%) children presented with leukocytosis
(WBC>12x109/L), all the children had anemia (Hb)
<11.0g/dl) and 48 (94.1%) had thrombocytopenia
(<150.0x 109/L), . Thirty-three (64.7%) children completed
induction chemotherapy; 27 (81.8%) with remission. Overall one year
survival was 42.5%. Remission failure was associated with poor
survival. Conclusions and Recommendation: Children with ALL present with
non-specific clinical features that mimic common childhood infections
and its outcomes are low at our unit. ALL should form part of the
differential diagnosis in children with fever, pallor, bleeding, or
leukocytosis, anemia and thrombocytopenia.