Presentation and survival in patients with hematologic malignancies in Jos, Nigeria: A retrospective cohort analysis

Abstract

Background Haematologic malignancies cause significant morbidity and mortality and are not uncommon in resource-limited-low income countries. However, the types, pattern of presentation and treatment outcomes vary across regions. We assessed the presentation and overall survival over an 11-year period in adult patients presenting with haematologic cancers in Jos, North Central Nigeria Materials and Methods This retrospective outcome study evaluated patients who presented with haematologic malignancies between 2005–2015 at the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH), Jos. Variables of interest were abstracted through chart reviews. Descriptive statistics were used to evaluate baseline and follow-up parameters. Overall survival (OS) was assessed using Kaplan-Meier method. Results Sixty patients, contributing 25,994 person-days of follow-up were evaluated. The mean age was 43+17 years and 61.7% were males. Thirty-one patients (51.7%) presented with leukemia, 45.0% with lymphoma, and 3.3% with multiple myeloma. Forty-two (70.0%) presented with advanced disease, 5 (5.2%) were HIV positive and 4 (6.7%) had died at the end of follow-up. OS was 84.3% (95% CI: 58.1–94.7). Survival differed by disease group (p=0.01) and having fever at presentation (p=0.02) Conclusion We found long-term OS to be impacted by disease type and status of fever at presentation. Disease-specific Strategies to improve early diagnosis and therapies are needed to ensure optimal outcomes in Nigerian patients.

Presenting features and treatment outcomes of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia in a resource poor Southern Nigeria

“…Disease presentation at a younger age was found to be associated with progressive disease and by extension, reduced survival. This may be due to the occurrence of a different mutation in the younger CLL patients which may connote more aggressive disease phenotype 6,26. CLL in the elderly might actually be “genotypically” different from CLL in the younger adults26,27.…”

“…The incidence varies widely across geographical locations, with Asia having a 5–10 fold lower prevalence. 6 This indicates the possible role of genetic factors offering a protective role in Asians, as migrated Asians in western countries also have a reduced incidence of CLL. 7 The higher prevalence in the resource limited countries, not withstanding their lower diagnostic capacity is more in support of a possible genetic aetiopathogenesis.…”

High expression of UBE2T predicts poor prognosis and survival in multiple myeloma

“…Although numerous researches have been conducted on MM, the etiology of MM still remain poorly understand. MM is malignant with high recurrence and the median overall survival in patients varies from several months to years [8]. The survival of MM is closely related to the clinical stage of MM [8].…”

“…MM is malignant with high recurrence and the median overall survival in patients varies from several months to years [8]. The survival of MM is closely related to the clinical stage of MM [8]. International staging system (ISS) stage criterion is regarded as the “gold standard” for the clinical stage of MM, which define MM into stage ISS I, ISS II and ISS III [9, 10].…”

Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: Prognostic Factors at Presentation in a Resource-Limited Center

“… 1 It accounts for 17%-20% of all hematologic malignancies in Nigeria with 2-6 per 100,000 new cases diagnosed annually. 3 , 4 CLL accounts for one quarter of the new cases of leukemia with an age-adjusted incidence of 4.5 per 100,000 persons in the United States. 1 The incidence varies widely across geographical locations, with Asia having a 5-10-fold lower prevalence.…”