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Chronic myelogenous leukemia

Primary therapy and relative survival among elderly patients with chronic myeloid leukemia: a population-based study in the Netherlands, 1989–2017

Leukemia volume 34, pages 3408–3412 (2020)Cite this article

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A Correction to this article was published on 28 September 2020

This article has been updated

The advent of the first tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) imatinib in 2001—targeting the BCR-ABL1 oncoprotein—revolutionized the management of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Trials of imatinib and subsequent TKIs in CML have shown excellent survival outcomes. However, the broad applicability of trial results in daily practice has its limits because of the patient selection criteria dictated by study protocols—especially among elderly, often comorbid patients who are generally underrepresented in pivotal CML trials [1].

Population-based studies can inform how changing treatment practices affect population-level survival. The paucity of representative population-based studies in CML is comparatively outdated and does not explicitly provide a comprehensive apprehension on treatment or survival among different older age groups, as patients are frequently combined into one age group or broad ranges of age [2,3,4,5]. Therefore, to complement and extend on prior population-based research, we conducted a comprehensive, nationwide, population-based study to assess trends in primary treatment and survival among elderly CML patients diagnosed during a 28-year period in the Netherlands.

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Fig. 1: Primary treatment of elderly patients with chronic myeloid leukemia in the Netherlands.
Fig. 2: Relative survival of elderly patients with chronic myeloid leukemia in the Netherlands according to age at diagnosis and calendar period of diagnosis, 1989–2017.

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  • 28 September 2020

    An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the registration clerks of the Netherlands Cancer Registry (NCR) for their dedicated data collection. The nationwide population-based NCR is maintained and hosted by the Netherlands Comprehensive Cancer Organisation (IKNL).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Hematology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Geneviève I. C. G. Ector & Nicole M. A. Blijlevens

  2. Department of Hematology, Radboud IKNL, Department Research and Development, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Geneviève I. C. G. Ector

  3. Department of Registration, Netherlands Comprehensive Cancer Organisation (IKNL), Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Otto Visser

  4. Department of Internal Medicine, Albert Schweitzer Hospital, Dordrecht, The Netherlands

    Peter E. Westerweel

  5. Department of Hematology, Cancer Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam University medical centers, location VUmc, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Jeroen J. W. M. Janssen & Avinash G. Dinmohamed

  6. Department of Research and Development, Netherlands Comprehensive Cancer Organisation (IKNL), Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Avinash G. Dinmohamed

  7. Department of Hematology, Cancer Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, Location AMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Avinash G. Dinmohamed

  8. Department of Public Health, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Avinash G. Dinmohamed

Authors
  1. Geneviève I. C. G. Ector
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Contributions

AGD designed the study; GICGE analyzed the data; AGD supervised the data analyses; OV collected the data; GICGE wrote the paper with contributions from all authors, who also interpreted the data, and read, commented on, and approved the final version of the paper.

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Correspondence to Geneviève I. C. G. Ector.

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Conflict of interest

GICGE: no conflict of interest. OV: no conflict of interest. PEW: no conflict of interest. JJWMJ: Research Support Novartis, BMS. Honoraria Abbvie, Novartis, Pfizer, Incyte. NMAB: no conflict of interest. AGD: no conflict of interest.

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Ector, G.I.C.G., Visser, O., Westerweel, P.E. et al. Primary therapy and relative survival among elderly patients with chronic myeloid leukemia: a population-based study in the Netherlands, 1989–2017. Leukemia 34, 3408–3412 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41375-020-0902-1

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