A comparison of races and leukemia subtypes among patients in different cancer survivorship phases.
BACKGROUND
The three phases of cancer survivorship include the acute survival phase (ASP), the extended survival phase (ESP), and the permanent survival phase (PSP). This Institutional Review Board-approved retrospective pilot project compared races and leukemia subtypes among patients in the ASP, ESP, and PSP.


METHODS
Fifty-five adult patients from our National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center were individually interviewed. Subjects were asked about multiple areas of survivorship including their social support system, distress level, and quality of life.


RESULTS
Demographics of the 55 patients are acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), 10; acute myelocytic leukemia (AML), 9; chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), 23; and chronic myelocytic leukemia (CML), 13. There were 23 females and 32 males, 30 Hispanics, 20 Caucasians, and 5 African-Americans. Twenty-two patients were in the ASP, 21 in the ESP, and 12 in the PSP. AML patients experienced the most physical, family, emotional, and spiritual problems (78%, 33%, 56%, and 22%, respectively). AML patients also had the highest distress level with a mean score of 5.8 (SD 1.7), compared to ALL (1.8), CLL (3.2), and CML (5.1) (P value < .001). Among all the phases of survivorship, the ASP had the highest distress level (mean, 4.8) and the worst quality of life (mean, 2.3). The ASP patients had the most treatment for depression (38%). When comparing races, African Americans and Hispanics (40% and 37%, respectively) were unable to cope with finances, compared to Caucasians (5%), (P value .016). Fear of recurrence was higher in Hispanics (67%), compared to African Americans (40%) and Caucasians (30%) (P value .031). Hispanics (40%) experienced more problems with housing, insurance, and work, as compared to African Americans (20%) and Caucasians (10%) (P value .047).


CONCLUSIONS
This study addresses the perceptions and beliefs of leukemia survivors and found that AML and minority patients need further investigation on various aspects of quality of life.
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, San Antonio, TX 78229-3900, USA. pandyad21@gmail.com
Devesh M
DM
Pandya
Sukeshi
S
Patel
Norma S
NS
Ketchum
Brad H
BH
Pollock
Swaminathan
S
Padmanabhan
D001741:Black or African American; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D007938:Leukemia / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate; D044465:White People