Age-dependent clinical, molecular, and prognostic differences in patients with AML: a retrospective study

This study aimed to compare clinical, and molecular features between acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients aged <50 and ≥50 years, while also assessing their respective treatment outcomes and prognostic factors.

We conducted a retrospective analysis of clinical data from AML patients treated at our institution between October 2015 and June 2021, supplemented by data extracted from the SEER database spanning 2000 to 2019. Survival outcomes were evaluated using Kaplan-Meier methodology.

In patients aged ≥50 years, we observed higher prevalence of DNMT3A, IDH2, and TP53 mutations along with -5/del (5q) karyotype abnormalities. The treatment outcomes were suboptimal, with a complete response (CR) rate of 45.9%, relapse rate of 60.8%, and two-year overall survival (OS) rate of 33.3%. VEN-treated chemotherapy-intolerant patients showed significantly improved two-year OS (36.0% vs 12.1% in non-VEN group; P = 0.006). In contrast, patients aged <50 years exhibited a distinct molecular profile characterized by a predominance of NRAS, biallelic CEBPA, WT1, and C-KIT mutations, along with a higher incidence of RUNX1-RUNX1T1 and CBFB-MYH11 fusion genes. This group demonstrated more favorable clinical outcomes, with a CR rate of 73.1%, relapse rate of 36.8%, and two-year OS rate of 68.3%.

This study revealed that patients aged ≥50 years displayed more complex genetic aberration profiles and experienced significantly poorer prognoses compared to their younger counterparts. These findings provided novel insights for optimizing treatment strategies for middle-aged and elderly AML patients in the Chinese population.