Connect
MJA
MJA

Acute leukaemia in Australia: outcomes have improved, but there is still much to do

Zhi Han Yeoh and Andrew W Roberts
Med J Aust 2022; 216 (6): . || doi: 10.5694/mja2.51446
Published online: 4 April 2022

More than ever, we must remain vigilant about ensuring equitable access to new diagnostic tools and therapeutic options

As we approach the 50th anniversary of President Richard Nixon’s declaration of the “war against cancer”,1 it is appropriate to recognise the improvement in outcomes for people diagnosed with cancer that have been achieved by major global investment in research.2


  • 1 Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, VIC
  • 2 The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, VIC


Correspondence: roberts@wehi.edu.au

Acknowledgements: 

We acknowledge the support of the many not‐for‐profit community‐based organisations that support people affected by leukaemias. Andrew Roberts is grateful for research support from the National Health and Medical Research Council (Investigator grant 1174902).

Competing interests:

Andrew Roberts chairs the Life Saving Drugs Program Expert Panel of the Australian Department of Health, is a member of the board of directors of the Australasian Leukaemia and Lymphoma Group (National Collaborative Clinical Trials Group) and the national Blood Cancer Taskforce. One of his employers, the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, receives royalties for Venetoclax, an approved drug for treating some leukaemias; he receives a share of these royalties from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute. Andrew Roberts is an inventor on a patent related to Venetoclax dosing; his rights are owned by Melbourne Health and were assigned to AbbVie. Neither Andrew Roberts nor Melbourne Health receives royalties related to this patent.

  • 1. National Cancer Institute. National Cancer Act of 1971 [Developmental Therapeutics Program timeline]. Undated. https://dtp.cancer.gov/timeline/noflash/milestones/M4_Nixon.htm (viewed Feb 2022).
  • 2. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Cancer data in Australia: cancer survival by age visualisation. Updated 8 June 2021. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/cancer/cancer‐data‐in‐australia/contents/cancer‐survival‐by‐age‐visualisation (viewed Feb 2022).
  • 3. Mrózek K, Heerema NA, Bloomfield CD. Cytogenetics in acute leukemia. Blood Rev 2004; 18: 115–136.
  • 4. Schoch C, Kern W, Schnittger S, et al. The influence of age on prognosis of de novo acute myeloid leukemia differs according to cytogenetic subgroups. Haematologica 2004; 89: 1082–1090.
  • 5. Pullarkat V, Slovak ML, Kopecky KJ, et al. Impact of cytogenetics on the outcome of adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia: results of Southwest Oncology Group 9400 study. Blood 2008; 111: 2563–2572.
  • 6. Beckmann K, Kearney BJ, Yeung D, et al. Changes in five‐year survival for people with acute leukaemia in South Australia, 1980–2016. Med J Aust 2022; 216: 296–302.
  • 7. Allemani C, Matsuda T, Di Carlo V, et al; CONCORD Working Group. Global surveillance of trends in cancer survival 2000–14 (CONCORD‐3): analysis of individual records for 37 513 025 patients diagnosed with one of 18 cancers from 322 population‐based registries in 71 countries. Lancet 2018; 391: 1023–1075.
  • 8. Allemani C, Weir HK, Carreira H, et al. CONCORD Working Group. Global surveillance of cancer survival 1995–2009: analysis of individual data for 25 676 887 patients from 279 population‐based registries in 67 countries (CONCORD‐2). Lancet 2015; 385: 977–1010.
  • 9. Daver N, Thomas D, Ravandi F, et al. Final report of a phase II study of imatinib mesylate with hyper‐CVAD for the front‐line treatment of adult patients with Philadelphia chromosome‐positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Haematologica 2015; 100: 653–661.
  • 10. Lo‐Coco F, Avvisati G, Vignetti M, et al; Gruppo Italiano Malattie Ematologiche dell'Adulto; German‐Austrian Acute Myeloid Leukemia Study Group; Study Alliance Leukemia. Retinoic acid and arsenic trioxide for acute promyelocytic leukemia. N Engl J Med 2013; 369: 111–121.
  • 11. Woods LM, Rachet B, Coleman MP. Origins of socio‐economic inequalities in cancer survival: a review. Ann Oncol 2006; 17: 5–19.
  • 12. Laine JE, Baltar VT, Stringhini S, et al; LIFEPATH Consortium. Reducing socio‐economic inequalities in all‐cause mortality: a counterfactual mediation approach. Int J Epidemiol 2020; 49: 497–510.
  • 13. Quaglia A, Lillini R, Mamo C, et al; SEIH (Socio‐Economic Indicators, Health) Working Group. Socio‐economic inequalities: a review of methodological issues and the relationships with cancer survival. Crit Rev Oncol Hematol 2013; 85: 266–277.
  • 14. Afshar N, English DR, Blakely T, et al. Differences in cancer survival by area‐level socio‐economic disadvantage: a population‐based study using cancer registry data. PLoS One 2020; 15: e0228551.
  • 15. Kogevinas M, Porta M. Socioeconomic differences in cancer survival: a review of the evidence. IARC Sci Publ 1997; 177–206.

Author

remove_circle_outline Delete Author
add_circle_outline Add Author

Comment
Do you have any competing interests to declare? *

I/we agree to assign copyright to the Medical Journal of Australia and agree to the Conditions of publication *
I/we agree to the Terms of use of the Medical Journal of Australia *
Email me when people comment on this article

Online responses are no longer available. Please refer to our instructions for authors page for more information.