Volume 112, Issue 5 pp. 714-722
ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Delayed diagnostic interval and survival outcomes in pediatric leukemia: A single-center, retrospective study

Kosuke Tamefusa

Corresponding Author

Kosuke Tamefusa

Department of Pediatrics, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama, Japan

Department of Pediatrics, Okayama University Hospital, Okayama, Japan

Correspondence

Kosuke Tamefusa, Department of Pediatrics, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2-5-1 Shikata-cho, Kita-ku, Okayama 700-8558, Japan.

Email: [email protected]

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Motoharu Ochi

Motoharu Ochi

Department of Pediatrics, Okayama University Hospital, Okayama, Japan

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Hisashi Ishida

Hisashi Ishida

Department of Pediatrics, Okayama University Hospital, Okayama, Japan

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Takahiro Shiwaku

Takahiro Shiwaku

Department of Pediatrics, Okayama University Hospital, Okayama, Japan

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Kiichiro Kanamitsu

Kiichiro Kanamitsu

Department of Pediatrics, Okayama University Hospital, Okayama, Japan

Department of Pediatrics, National Hospital Organization Okayama Medical Center, Okayama, Japan

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Kaori Fujiwara

Kaori Fujiwara

Department of Pediatrics, Okayama University Hospital, Okayama, Japan

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Yasuhisa Tatebe

Yasuhisa Tatebe

Department of Pharmacy, Okayama University Hospital, Okayama, Japan

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Naomi Matsumoto

Naomi Matsumoto

Department of Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, Okayama, Japan

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Kana Washio

Kana Washio

Department of Pediatrics, Okayama University Hospital, Okayama, Japan

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Hirokazu Tsukahara

Hirokazu Tsukahara

Department of Pediatrics, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama, Japan

Department of Pediatrics, Okayama University Hospital, Okayama, Japan

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First published: 28 December 2023
Citations: 1

Abstract

Objective

This study primarily focused on the diagnostic interval (DI), defined as the duration from the onset of leukemic symptoms to diagnosis. We investigated whether a prolonged DI is associated with the outcomes of pediatric leukemia.

Methods

We retrospectively collected data of children with newly diagnosed pediatric leukemia at Okayama University Hospital from January 2007 to December 2022. Survival analyses were conducted using Kaplan–Meier methods, and an unadjusted analysis to compare differences in survival was performed using the log-rank test.

Results

In total, 103 children with leukemia were included in the analysis. The median DI was 20 days (interquartile range, 9.5–33.5 days). A prolonged DI (≥30 days) demonstrated no association with either 5-year event-free survival (70.1% for <30 days and 68.3% for ≥30 days, p = .99, log-rank test) or overall survival (84.7% for <30 days and 89.4% for ≥30 days, p = .85, log-rank test).

Conclusions

A prolonged DI was not associated with the survival of children with leukemia. If a precise classification of leukemia biology is provided for pediatric patients, a prolonged DI may have little impact on the prognosis of these patients.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST STATEMENT

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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