Weldetsadik Abilo Tadesse
Department of Internal Medicine, Gondar University Hospital.
Ethiop Med J. 2013 Jan;51(1):25-31.
Hematological malignancies are primary cancers of the blood and blood-forming organs (bone marrow and lymphoid tissues), which includes leukemia, lymphoma and plasma cell dyscrasia. The overall incidence of hematological malignancies appears to be rising in United States of America and Europe, and estimated to be rising in Africa. This study was conducted as there is scarcity of information regarding clinical characteristics of hematological malignancies in Ethiopia.
The study aims to determine the distribution and spectrum of various hematological malignancies encountered in the locality.
This is a retrospective descriptive study done in Gondar University Hospital, North West Ethiopia from January 2008 to December 2011 in those admitted with the diagnosis of hematological malignancies.
Sixty-seven patients were admitted with the diagnosis of hematological malignancies during the study period The mean and median ages of patients with hematological malignancies were 42 yrs and 45 yrs respectively. Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) comprised 22/67 (32.8%) of all hematological malignancies, followed by 17/67 (25.4%) chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and 13/67 (19.4%) chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Majority of patients with NHL presented with advanced disease (77%), high-grade type (73%) with B-symptoms (68%), reflecting aggressive nature of the disease. Patients with acute leukemia, especially acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), presented with features of cytopenia (fatigue, fever and bleeding tendency), while chronic leukemia (CML and CLL) cases had fatigue, weight loss and organomegally on admission. Among patients with CML, 12/17 (71%) were in chronic phase, 4/17 (23%) in accelerated phase and 1/17 (6%) in blast phase on admission. Majority of CLL patients had advanced disease on admission with 9/13 (69%) Binet C and 10/13 (76%) (Rai stage III and IV).
The distribution and spectrum of various hematological malignancies in this study is grossly similar to the pattern reported in other African countries.
血液系统恶性肿瘤是血液及造血器官（骨髓和淋巴组织）的原发性癌症，包括白血病、淋巴瘤和浆细胞异常增生症。在美国和欧洲，血液系统恶性肿瘤的总体发病率似乎在上升，预计在非洲也呈上升趋势。由于埃塞俄比亚缺乏有关血液系统恶性肿瘤临床特征的信息，因此开展了本研究。
本研究旨在确定当地所遇到的各种血液系统恶性肿瘤的分布和种类。
这是一项回顾性描述性研究，于2008年1月至2011年12月在埃塞俄比亚西北部的贡德尔大学医院对诊断为血液系统恶性肿瘤的住院患者进行。
在研究期间，67例患者被诊断为血液系统恶性肿瘤。血液系统恶性肿瘤患者的平均年龄和中位年龄分别为42岁和45岁。非霍奇金淋巴瘤（NHL）占所有血液系统恶性肿瘤的22/67（32.8%），其次是慢性髓性白血病（CML）17/67（25.4%）和慢性淋巴细胞白血病（CLL）13/67（19.4%）。大多数NHL患者表现为晚期疾病（77%）、高级别类型（73%）并伴有B症状（68%），反映出该疾病的侵袭性。急性白血病患者，尤其是急性淋巴细胞白血病（ALL），表现为血细胞减少的特征（疲劳、发热和出血倾向），而慢性白血病（CML和CLL）患者入院时则有疲劳、体重减轻和器官肿大。在CML患者中，入院时12/17（71%）处于慢性期，4/17（23%）处于加速期，1/17（6%）处于急变期。大多数CLL患者入院时病情已进展，9/13（69%）为Binet C期，10/13（76%）（Rai分期III期和IV期）。
本研究中各种血液系统恶性肿瘤的分布和种类与其他非洲国家报告的模式大致相似。
