Objective: Treatment and outcome of infant acute leukemia (IAL) in developed countries have been well documented. However, reports summarizing diagnosis and outcome of IAL in developing countries are limited.
Methods: Five hundred ninety seven pediatric patients were diagnosed with acute leukemia in our hospital between January 1997 and June 2008, of which 19 were younger than 12 months. Data from our 19 cases and the Chinese literature were analyzed.
Results: Of the 19 cases, 14 had acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and 5 had acute myeloid leukemia (AML) based on FAB classification. Immunophenotyping and molecular genetic analysis were performed in only 6 cases. Only 16% (3/19) of the infants received treatment. Two infants with immunophenotypic AML who abandoned treatment achieved spontaneous remission without chemotherapy within 2 and 4 months respectively. Combining our data with those from Chinese literature, less than one third of the infants had immunophenotypic and genetic verification of leukemia and 29% (18/63) of them received treatment.
Conclusion: Family financial difficulties and physicians' lack of confidence in treatment outcome in IAL contributed to a high treatment abandonment rate and poor outcome. Public health insurance as well as physician education on current IAL treatment strategies may decrease treatment abandonment in China.