Hematological malignancies in relation with ABO blood group at a teaching hospital, Varanasi, India

There has been enormous progress in the diagnosis and treatment modalities of leukemia, but its pattern and prevalence vary throughout India. This inter-regional variation may be due to geographic, cultural or racial variation or maybe due deficiency in case of notification, especially in rural areas.

The aim of our study is to determine the prevalence of different types of hematological malignancies with the ABO blood group at a teaching hospital in Varanasi, India. This cross-sectional study of 77 cases was conducted during 2016-2017 at a tertiary care center. We analyzed the age, sex, subtype of leukemia, blood group, clinical features, and laboratory parameters of patients. Age ranged between 1 year and 81 years with a male to female ratio of 1.9:1. A total of 66.3% of patients were suffering from acute leukemia and 33.7% from chronic leukemia. The most common blood group was B positive (44.8%) but no significant association was found (P = 0.822). Fever (76.6%) and generalized weakness/easy fatigability (46.75%) were common complaints, whereas pallor (68.8%) and splenomegaly (51.9%) were common signs. Cases were from 23 districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh and western Bihar. The majority of the cases (70.12%) were from 8 districts (Jaunpur, Varanasi, Azamgarh, Ballia, Bhadhoi, Gazipur, Kaimur, Rohtas) of Uttar Pradesh, India and Aurangabad district of Bihar. Acute leukemia is more prevalent than chronic leukemia with more male preponderance. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) were commonly found in children, acute myeloid leukemia (AML) was found in both children and adults. Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) mainly noted in adults. Unclassified acute leukemia was seen mainly in children and young adults. Anemia was more severe in acute conditions and thrombocytopenia was also more in acute leukemia. The most common blood group was B positive.