Palliative Care Needs in Adult Patients with Acute Leukemia: A Prospective Observational Study

Background: Acute leukemia (AL) affects patients' well-being and inflicts substantial symptom burden. We evaluated palliative care needs and symptom burden in adult patients with AL from diagnosis through fourth week of induction chemotherapy. Methods: Newly diagnosed adult patients with AL scheduled for curative-intent treatments, prospectively completed Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Leukemia questionnaire at diagnosis and postinduction therapy. Subscale scores identified domains with major needs, with lower scores signifying higher needs, while Leu-subscale assessed leukemia-specific symptom burden. Results: One hundred patients were enrolled. Upon diagnosis and four weeks into induction phase, respectively, patients exhibited the lowest scores in physical (17 ± 8.75; 16 ± 11; p < 0.05), functional (16.5 ± 10.75; 11 ± 12.2; p < 0.05), and leukemia-specific (43 ± 16.75; 41.48 ± 11.68; p > 0.05) domains. Predominant symptoms were "getting tired easily" (91%) at diagnosis and "unable to do usual activities" (92.3%) after induction. Conclusion: Patients with AL demonstrated substantial physical, functional, and leukemia-specific symptom needs at diagnosis, which intensified postinduction, highlighting the necessity for palliative care integration from diagnosis.