Analysis of age-specific cytogenetic changes among 515 patients with acute myeloid leukemia

Objective To explore cytogenetic changes and prognosis of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) from different age groups. Methods The karyotypes of 515 AML patients were analyzed by using short-term culture of bone marrow cells and R-banding technique. Combined with FAB typing and genetic testing, the cytogenetic changes and prognosis of different age groups were analyzed. Results The abnormal cloning rate was 54.6% among the 515 patients. The abnormal cloning rate and adverse risk karyotype proportion of those with myeloproliferative syndromes (MDS) and secondary AML were higher than those with de novo AML (P=0.027; P<0.01). A significant difference was found in the occurrence of structural abnormalities and proportion of favorable risk karyotypes among different age groups (P=0.026; P=0.004). And there was also a significant difference in the abnormal cloning rates between different FAB types (P<0.01). In those with non-acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), the expression level of WT1 gene may affect the prognosis. The survival rate of patients with karyotypes of adverse risk was lower than those with karyotypes of favorable risk (P=0.015). The survival rate of the ≥ 60-year-old group was lower than the ≤30-year-old and 31-59-year-old groups (P<0.01, P<0.01). Conclusion The karyotypes of AML patients have different age distribution characteristics. The survival rate of ≥ 60-years-old group and karyotype of poor prognosis is low. Patients with MDS with secondary AML have a poor prognosis. Key words: Acute myelocytic leukemia; Cytogenetic changes; Age; Prognosis