In-hospital Mortality and Racial Disparity in Children and Adolescents With Acute Myeloid Leukemia: A Population-based Study

Association of the social disorganization index with time to first septic shock event in children with acute myeloid leukemia

BACKGROUND

Pediatric acute myeloid leukemia (AML) chemotherapy increases the risk of life-threatening complications, including septic shock (SS). An area-based measure of social determinants of health, the social disorganization index (SDI), was hypothesized to be associated with SS and SS-associated death (SS-death).

METHODS

Children treated for de novo AML on two Children's Oncology Group trials at institutions contributing to the Pediatric Health Information System (PHIS) database were included. The SDI was calculated via residential zip code data from the US Census Bureau. SS was identified via PHIS resource utilization codes. SS-death was defined as death within 2 weeks of an antecedent SS event. Patients were followed from 7 days after the start of chemotherapy until the first of end of front-line therapy, death, relapse, or removal from study. Multivariable-adjusted Cox regressions estimated hazard ratios (HRs) comparing time to first SS by SDI group.

RESULTS

The assembled cohort included 700 patients, with 207 (29.6%) sustaining at least one SS event. There were 233 (33%) in the SDI-5 group (highest disorganization). Adjusted time to incident SS did not statistically significantly differ by SDI (reference, SDI-1; SDI-2: HR, 0.84 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.51-1.41]; SDI-3: HR, 0.70 [95% CI, 0.42-1.16]; SDI-4: HR, 0.97 [95% CI, 0.61-1.53]; SDI-5: HR, 0.72 [95% CI, 0.45-1.14]). Nine patients (4.4%) with SS experienced SS-death; seven of these patients (78%) were in SDI-4 or SDI-5.

CONCLUSIONS

In a large, nationally representative cohort of trial-enrolled pediatric patients with AML, there was no significant association between the SDI and time to SS.

Ethnic disparities in childhood leukemia survival by border residence: A Texas population-based analysis

BACKGROUND

The US-Mexico border is a medically underserved region where survival disparities have been observed in adults diagnosed and treated for various malignancies. Studies examining survival disparities among children living in this region and diagnosed with cancer are lacking. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of border residence on survival among children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and living near the Texas-Mexico border at the time of their diagnosis. The authors hypothesized that this group experiences inferior survival compared with patients with childhood leukemia living in nonborder areas.

METHODS

The authors conducted a retrospective survival analysis leveraging data from the Texas Cancer Registry. The study included patients aged birth to 19 years who were diagnosed with ALL or AML between 1995 and 2017. Cox proportional hazards models were used to evaluate the factors associated with the risk of death. Overall survival estimates were calculated using Kaplan-Meier methods.

RESULTS

During the study period, there were 6002 children diagnosed with ALL and 1279 diagnosed with AML. Inferior 5-year overall survival was observed among children with ALL living along the border region compared with those living in nonborder areas (77.5% vs. 85.8%). In adjusted models, children with ALL living along the border experienced a 30% increased hazard of death versus children living in nonborder areas. In contrast, for children with AML, survival estimates did not vary by border versus nonborder residence.

CONCLUSIONS

Living along the border was associated with inferior survival among children with ALL, but not among children with AML. Additional studies are urgently needed to identify the factors driving these disparities to effectively design multilevel interventions and influence state and national cancer control programs.

Screening for Social Determinants of Health in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit: Recommendations for Clinicians

Social determinants of health (SDoH) play a significant role in the health and well-being of children in the United States. Disparities in the risk and outcomes of critical illness have been extensively documented but are yet to be fully explored through the lens of SDoH. In this review, we provide justification for routine SDoH screening as a critical first step toward understanding the causes of, and effectively addressing health disparities affecting critically ill children. Second, we summarize important aspects of SDoH screening that need to be considered before implementing this practice in the pediatric critical care setting.

Demographic and treatment risk factors of cancer-specific mortality among children and adolescent leukemia patients: a population-based study

Leukemia is the 15th most commonly diagnosed cancer and the 11th leading cause of cancer mortality. The high mortality rate of leukemia could be attributed to numerous factors. Therefore, we aimed to identify the demographic and treatment risk factors influencing mortality among patients diagnosed with leukemia. Patients' data from 1975 to 2016 were collected from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. We used the Person's chi-square test to examine the associations among the categorical variables. Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression were applied for univariate and multivariate analyses. Standardized mortality ratios were utilized to compare the mortality rates of leukemia patients and the general US population. We carried out the statistical analysis using SPSS software. A total of 18,880 patients with leukemia were studied. The leukemia incidence was increased in children than in adolescents. Acute lymphoid leukemia (ALL) was the most common type diagnosed among children and adolescents: 10,331 and 4112 patients, respectively. All mortality ratios were significantly higher in leukemia patients compared to the US population. The risk of mortality among leukemia patients was higher among adolescents, females, Black, urban areas with a 20,000 population, and patients not receiving chemotherapy. In contrast, the mortality risk was decreased in patients with higher family incomes, those not treated with radiation, and diagnosed from 2000 to 2016. In conclusion, Leukemia's incidence increases with time. Adolescents, males, Black, in some urban areas, and patients who have not received chemotherapy had the highest mortality risk among leukemia patients.

Somatic FOXC1 insertion mutation remodels the immune microenvironment and promotes the progression of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common malignant hematological diseases in children. An immunosuppressive microenvironment, particularly regulatory T cell (Treg) infiltration, has been documented to be highly associated with childhood ALL. This present study, based on genetic factors, was aimed at investigating the mutations potentially involved in the immunosuppressive microenvironment in childhood ALL. After whole-exome sequencing was used on DNA extracted from the T cells of ALL bone marrow samples, we found the FOXC1 H446HG induced a increased Treg while decreased cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) in bone marrow. The mutation of FOXC1 in T cell promoted the proliferation of leukemia cells in vitro and in vivo. CpG islands formed by insertion mutation led to an abnormal increase in exon methylation and were associated with the suppression of FOXC1. Decreased FOXC1 attenuated the transcription of HDAC1, thus resulting in the activation of KLF10 through increasing H3K27 acetylation in the promoter region. In conclusion, the de novo insertion mutation in FOXC1 induced suppression of FOXC1, thereby promoting a Treg/CTL shift in the ALL immune microenvironment. The FOXC1 H446HG mutation might be a potential therapeutic target for ALL in the future.