Clinical Outcomes of Patients With Newly Diagnosed Acute Myeloid Leukemia Receiving Treatment in a Safety-Net Hospital System

Background: 'Standard of care’ therapies for adult acute myeloid leukemia (AML) have yielded 5-year overall survival (OS) rates of 30%-45 %. Risk stratification and novel targeted therapies have improved 5-year OS rates to >75 % for certain groups in specialized centers. Patients and Methods: This is a retrospective cohort analysis of outcomes in patients ≥18 years with newly diagnosed AML treated between 2005 and 2019 in the Harris Health County, Safety-Net Hospital System in Houston, TX. Results: 192 patients were identified. Median age was 52 years, 52 % were male and 57 % identified as Hispanic. Most patients were uninsured or indigent, receiving care under the county's financial assistance programs (62 %). Of the 184 response-assessable patients, 139 achieved composite complete remission (CRc) (76 %). 182 patients had indications for HCT and only 25 patients received HCT (14 %), with main reasons including noncitizenship status and financial/insurance constraints. The 5-year OS rate in the entire cohort was 30 % (35 % in patients <60 years and 16 % if ≥60 years), with 92 % of deaths attributed to AML-related complications. Early death (<4 weeks) rate was 2 %. Secondary, adverse-risk AML, and uninsured status all portended significantly worse OS rates, per multivariate analysis. Patients with indications for HCT who received this modality fared significantly better than those who did not receive it (5-year OS 54 % vs. 21 %). Conclusions: Optimizing AML remission induction regimens, reducing medication costs, ensuring timely administration of AML directed therapies, enhancing equity and diversity in clinical trials, and addressing socioeconomic factors may improve leukemia care for underserved patients.