Overview of chronic myeloid leukemia patients in Pakistan in the pre-imatanib era.

OBJECTIVE

To study the patient characteristics of patients diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) at a tertiary care cancer hospital in Pakistan.

METHODS AND MATERIALS: A retrospective analysis was conducted on CML patients treated between 1996 and 2004 at Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Center.

RESULTS

A total of 461 CML patient charts were reviewed. The mean and median ages at presentation were much younger than in the prior reports in the western literature with a quicker progression of disease.

CONCLUSION

The advent of tyrosine kinase inhibitors will likely have more impact on the lifespan of CML patients in Pakistan when compared with patients in the western hemisphere due to younger age at diagnosis.