Navigating the Post-Targeted Therapy Era in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia: An In-Depth Look at the Landscape via Incidence-Base Mortality

Jerry Kenmoe, Calvin Ghimire, Zahid Hussain, Kashieca Yap, Tejaswi Vinjam, Hubert Moh, Henry Ariri, Kunadi Arvind.

Abstract

Background: Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a leading cause of leukemia in North America and around the world. According to the American Cancer Society, one in every 526 Americans will acquire CML in their lifetime. CML accounts for around 15% of all new instances of leukemia.

We examined the incidence-based mortality rates (IBM rates) of CML by gender, race, rural/Urban residency, age groups and income level in adult populations in the United States from 2000 to 2019 using the SEER.gov database.

Methods: Incidence-based Mortality rates of CML were calculated using IBM SEER Research Data, 17 Registries, Nov 2021 Sub (2000-2019), which covers the largest geographic area and approximately 26.5% of the US population (based on 2020 Census data). SEER*Stat 8.4.1 was used to calculate age-adjusted rates across age groups, races, and genders. We utilized the National Cancer Institute’s Join-point program, version 5.0.2, to generate log-linear temporal trends on an annual basis.

Results: IBM rates for CML improved for the studied age groups, income levels, area of residence, race/ethnicity, and sex/gender.

Though there was synonymous improvement across all strata, there were still differences in rates within the groups studied.

Conclusion: Our findings revealed that IBM rates for CML improved across the board, regardless of age group, income level, place of residence, race/ ethnicity, or gender. Interestingly, the data strongly suggests a big change in IBM rates around 2002, coinciding well with FDA approval of Targeted therapy in 2001.