Observational Study
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World J Hematol. Aug 6, 2014; 3(3): 105-114
Published online Aug 6, 2014. doi: 10.5315/wjh.v3.i3.105
Age is an independent adverse prognostic factor for overall survival in acute myeloid leukemia in Japan
Hiroaki Ohnishi, Osamu Imataki, Yasunori Kawachi, Makoto Ide, Kimihiro Kawakami, Masato Waki, Hidetaka Takimoto, Yasuo Hoshijima, Tetsuya Fukumoto, Kensuke Matsumoto, Fusako Waki, Akihito Matsuoka, Takamichi Shintani, Makiko Uemura, Shigeyuki Yokokura, Teruhisa Taoka, Takuya Matsunaga
Hiroaki Ohnishi, Osamu Imataki, Tetsuya Fukumoto, Kensuke Matsumoto, Fusako Waki, Akihito Matsuoka, Takamichi Shintani, Makiko Uemura, Shigeyuki Yokokura, Takuya Matsunaga, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Hematology, Rheumatology and Respiratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Kagawa University, Kagawa 761-0793, Japan
Hiroaki Ohnishi, Yasunori Kawachi, Makoto Ide, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology, Takamatsu Red Cross Hospital, Kagawa 760-0017, Japan
Kimihiro Kawakami, Masato Waki, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology, Kagawa Prefectural Central Hospital, Kagawa 760-8557, Japan
Hidetaka Takimoto, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology, Kagawa Rosai Hospital, Kagawa 763-8502, Japan
Yasuo Hoshijima, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology, Takamatsu Municipal Hospital, Kagawa 760-8538, Japan
Teruhisa Taoka, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology, Sakaide City Hospital, Kagawa 762-0031, Japan
Author contributions: Ohnishi H and Imataki O contributed equally to this work; Ohnishi H, Imataki O and Matsunaga T conceived and designed the study, analyzed and interpreted the data, wrote the paper; Kawachi Y, Ide M, Kawakami K, Waki M, Takimoto H, Hoshijima Y, Fukumoto T, Matsumoto K, Waki F, Matsuoka A, Shintani T, Uemura M and Yokokura S acquired the data, revised the paper; all authors approved the final version of the report.
Correspondence to: Osamu Imataki, MD, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology, Faculty of Medicine, Kagawa University, 1750-1 Ikenobe, Miki-cho, Kita-gun, Kagawa 761-0793, Japan. oima@med.kagawa-u.ac.jp
Telephone: +81-87-8912145 Fax: +81-87-8912147
Received: December 11, 2013
Revised: April 20, 2014
Accepted: May 28, 2014
Published online: August 6, 2014
Processing time: 313 Days and 6.9 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: The prevalence of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is increasing among elderly patients in Japan. Our population-based observational study revealed that age was an independent prognostic factor in a real-world practice for the treatment of AML patients. Although we found that AML patients older than 75 years had lower complete remission rates and higher early death rates than patients younger than 75 years, an appropriately intensified induction chemotherapy would be helpful to prolong the survival of elderly AML patients with better performance status (PS) (1-2). The intensity of chemotherapy should thus be adjusted according to age and PS.