OBJECTIVES

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients who can tolerate intensive chemotherapy regimen, are considered as “fit” patients. Given the lack of clarity on definition of “fit patients, this study aims to describe the proportion of 1^st line therapy given to AML patients in Japan, identify the demographic characteristics of patients receiving each treatment regimen, treatment patterns, and healthcare resource and cost utilization from a retrospective hospital administrative data.

METHODS

Patients with at least one confirmed diagnosis of AML by ICD-10 C920 between 4/01/2008 to 9/30/2018 and aged 15 or above without history of stem cell transplantation were identified. Descriptive analysis and equivalence tests were performed.

RESULTS

4,357 AML patients were included (mean age 62.5±15.76 years old; 60% male) in the analysis. The combination of antharacycline agents (idarubicin, daunorubicin, aclarubicin, mitoxantrone, and doxorubicin) and cytarabine were the most common treatment given to the AML patients as 1^st line treatment. Mean age ± SD of idarubicin + cytarabine ± α/ daunorubicin + cytarabine ± α regimen group (57.2 ± 15.07 years old) was significantly lower than other treatment combination regimen group (66.2 ± 15.16 years old) with a p-value of <0.001. For the patients with first line treatment of cytarabine + daunorubicin or cytarabine + idarubicin, roughly 20% of the patients were treated with daunorubicin/idarubicin as per the JSH guidelines for hematological malignancies in terms of dosage. In terms of the treatment cost, the mean ± SD of total cost for all AML patients was 44,760,800 ± 73,785,826 yen.

CONCLUSIONS

Among the 4,357 patients diagnosed with AML in the study, majority of the patients have less than 4 lines of therapy. Eventually idarubicin + cytarabine is known as the most common 1^st line treatment combination and about 20% of them are treated under JSH guidelines dosage.