5-year survival rates based on the type of leukemia in Iran, a Meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: According to epidemiological studies, leukemia is among the five most common cancers in Iran. Keeping efforts to estimate survival is critical to monitoring and improving patients’ quality of life with leukemia. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the 5-year survival rate of leukemia patients in Iran using meta-analysis method. METHODS: This meta-analysis was carried out according to studies that adhere to inclusion and exclusion criteria during enrolment. The valid Iranian databases included: Medex, Magiran, SID, and Medlib, along with international data bases, namely, Scopus, Pubmed, and ISI were searched to find relevant articles. After determining the heterogeneity between studies, the random effects models were used to estimate pooled survival in leukemia patients. RESULTS: In total, 18 studies involving 2517 participants were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled 5-year survival rate was 0.56 % (95% CI, 0.54 to 0.58). According to types AML and ALL, the 5-year survival rates in Iran were 35.0 % (95% CI: 32.0-38.0) and 57.0 % (95% CI: 54.0-60.0), respectively. CONCLUSION: Based on our findings, slightly less than 50% of leukemia deaths happened in the first 5 years after diagnosis, which is lower than the global average.