TY - JOUR
T1 - Acute leukemia among the adult population of United Arab Emirates
T2 - An epidemiological study
AU - Hassan, Inaam Bashir
AU - Islam, Sherief I.A.M.
AU - Alizadeh, Hussain
AU - Kristensen, Jorgen
AU - Kambal, Amr
AU - Sonday, Shanaaz
AU - Bernseen, Roos M.D.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by grants from Research Affairs, United Arab Emirates University. The authors thank the staff at the NCR, and the Medical Record Department, at Tawam Hospital, Al Ain, UAE. In addition, they also thank Mrs. Shaikha Al Marar, Mrs. Mary Kutty Jacob and to the medical students, FMHS, UAEU, who participated in the data collection.
PY - 2009
Y1 - 2009
N2 - There is no published data regarding adult acute leukemia (AL) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Our objectives were to determine the distribution and incidence of adult AL in UAE (nationals and non-nationals). This epidemiological survey recovered 263 adult patients with AL diagnosed between January 2000 and December 2006 with a median age of 34 years. Twenty-four percent were UAE nationals and 63% were males. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) was more frequently diagnosed (32%) than in western countries. This clearly reflects the population structure of the UAE which consists of predominantly young males. There is a tendency for lower crude and age-specific incidence rates of AL, acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and ALL in the UAE when compared with those in western countries. We found a statistically significant higher incidence of AML among national females than in national males (p = 0.04). This is reflected in a significantly higher incidence of AL (p = 0.02) and AML (p = 0.02) among the females when compared with the males in the total population of the UAE. This result contradicts the generally known finding that AML and ALL are more common in males. The implication of cumulative risk factors to which females could be exposed, such as vitamin D deficiency as a result of sunlight deprivation and direct exposure to benzene and color enhancement chemicals in henna, could not be excluded and warrant further investigation.
AB - There is no published data regarding adult acute leukemia (AL) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Our objectives were to determine the distribution and incidence of adult AL in UAE (nationals and non-nationals). This epidemiological survey recovered 263 adult patients with AL diagnosed between January 2000 and December 2006 with a median age of 34 years. Twenty-four percent were UAE nationals and 63% were males. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) was more frequently diagnosed (32%) than in western countries. This clearly reflects the population structure of the UAE which consists of predominantly young males. There is a tendency for lower crude and age-specific incidence rates of AL, acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and ALL in the UAE when compared with those in western countries. We found a statistically significant higher incidence of AML among national females than in national males (p = 0.04). This is reflected in a significantly higher incidence of AL (p = 0.02) and AML (p = 0.02) among the females when compared with the males in the total population of the UAE. This result contradicts the generally known finding that AML and ALL are more common in males. The implication of cumulative risk factors to which females could be exposed, such as vitamin D deficiency as a result of sunlight deprivation and direct exposure to benzene and color enhancement chemicals in henna, could not be excluded and warrant further investigation.
KW - Acute leukemia
KW - Adults
KW - Distribution
KW - Incidence
KW - United Arab Emirates
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U2 - 10.1080/10428190902919184
DO - 10.1080/10428190902919184
M3 - Article
C2 - 19557635
AN - SCOPUS:68449089512
SN - 1042-8194
VL - 50
SP - 1138
EP - 1147
JO - Leukemia and Lymphoma
JF - Leukemia and Lymphoma
IS - 7
ER -