Patterns of hematological and non-hematological malignancies in bone marrow in a tertiary care hospital in Nepal--11 years study

Nepal Med Coll J. 2012 Sep;14(3):187-92.

Abstract

Developing countries bear more than half of the global cancer burden and the leukemia comprises of 3% of all malignancies with an incidence of 300,500 per year. The patterns of subtypes of leukemias vary in different populations and geographic areas. Here, we analyze both the hematological and non-hematological malignancies in the Western region of Nepal. This is a retrospective study done from Janauary 2000 to June 2011. All cases of bone marrow malignancies including leukemias, multiple myeloma and infiltration/metastasis to bone marrow were included in the study. Morphological subtypes {FAB (French, American and British) classification}, gender, age at diagnosis and peripheral blood counts of all the cases were analyzed. A total of 155 cases of hematological and non-hematological malignancies were reported during this period. Age ranged from 1 year to 82 years. Among 123 leukemia cases, acute myeloid leukemia (AML) was the commonest (80 cases) followed by chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) (20 cases), acute lymphoid leukemia (ALL) (16 cases) and chronic lymphoid leukemia (CLL) (7 cases). The commonest childhood leukemia below 15 years was AML followed by ALL. The commonest subtypes of AML and ALL were M2 and L2 respectively. CML cases in our study were less common and females were more affected than other parts of the country. There were 23 cases of multiple myeloma and 9 cases of infiltration/metastasis to marrow. Males were more affected by multiple myeloma in our study. Our data reflects bone marrow malignancies in the Western region of Nepal which is more comparable to the Central than Eastern region of Nepal.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Bone Marrow / pathology*
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Female
  • Hematologic Neoplasms / epidemiology*
  • Hematologic Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Nepal / epidemiology
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Tertiary Care Centers / statistics & numerical data*
  • Young Adult