Abstract
OBJECTIVE: ALL is the most common cancer in children and the most common cause of cancer death before the age of 20. In low- and middle-income countries, ALL is associated with poor outcomes. Many constraints are at the root of management failures. Therefore, in view of the progressive improvements in the efficacy of chemotherapeutic regimens, we deemed it necessary to conduct this study, the objective of which is to evaluate the role of biology in the management of children with ALL in the Oncopediatric Unit of Dakar. METHODS: This is a prospective analytical study that started on November 15th, 2021 at the UOP in collaboration with the hematology and immunology laboratories. All newly diagnosed patients with ALL based-on cytology and/or immunophenotyping, treated according to the ALL-GFAOP protocol and registered in the REDcap database are included. RESULTS: From November, 15th 2021 to July, 31th 2023, 48 patients were diagnosed with de novo ALL. With an average age of 7.8 years, female represented the main group (52,08%). According to immunophenotyping, the B profile was found in 25.0 % and the T profile in 22.9 %. The ALL T group was older (9.2 vs 4.4 years) and have had higher platelet counts (122272.7 vs 46916.7) at diagnosis than the ALL B group. This latter had higher hemoglobin (7.4 vs 6.8), white blood cell (127296.2 vs 56511.2) and blast counts at diagnosis in peripheral blood (69.4% vs 55.1%) and also in bone marrow (84.2% vs 72.5%) and higher rate of residual blast counts at Day8 after induction (9198.4 vs 1301.4). Regarding corticosensitivity at D8 of induction, no difference was found according to the number of blasts, the hemoglobinlevel and the immunological profile at diagnosis. However, patients with hyperleukocytic ALL with a relatively higher platelet count were more sensitive to corticosteroid therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Understanding the biology of acute ALL is of major interest in the effectiveness of therapeutic approaches to this type of hematology malignancies.
Citation Format: Abou A Koundio, Moussa Ndour, Mame Ndella Diouf, Fatou Binetou Akonde, Awa Oumar Toure, Martine Raphael. BIOLOGY IN ACUTE LYMPHOBLASTIC LEUKEMIA FROM DIAGNOSIS TO FOLLOW-UP: A STUDY OF 48CASES [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Blood Cancer Discovery Symposium; 2024 Mar 4-6; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Blood Cancer Discov 2024;5(2_Suppl):Abstract nr P36.