Therapy-related acute myeloid leukemia in Non-Hodgkin lymphoma survivors: Risk, survival outcomes and prognostic factor analysis

Background: Therapy-related acute myeloid leukemia (tAML) is a serious complication in patients with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) exposed to chemotherapy or radiation. This extensive database study aims to quantify the risk of tAML in NHL and determine the impact of tAML on the overall survival (OS) of patients with NHL. Materials and methods: Patients diagnosed with NHL and de novo AML from 2009 to 2018 were identified from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. Multiple primary standardized incidence ratio (SIR) sessions of the SEER*Stat software were used to calculate SIR and the absolute excess risk of tAML. Overall survival (OS) was evaluated using Kaplan–Meier curves and compared using log-rank tests. Multivariate analysis was used to study the role of each covariate on OS in patients with tAML. Results: The SIR of tAML was 4.89 (95% CI 4.41–5.41), with a higher incidence of tAML observed for age <60 years, NHL prior to 2013 and within 5 years of diagnosis, and those who received chemotherapy. NHL patients with tAML had lower OS than those without tAML (5-year OS 59% vs. 13%, p < 0.001). Patients with tAML showed worse OS than de novo AML in univariate analysis (5-year OS 13% vs. 25%, p = 0.001) but not in multivariate analysis (HR 0.93, 95% CI 0.82–1.04, p = 0.21). Age >60 years and lack of chemotherapy were associated with poor OS in tAML subcategory. Conclusion: Age, time since NHL diagnosis, and receipt of chemotherapy directly influence the risk of development of tAML in NHL survivors.