When it comes to leukemia, people tend to think that it is a disease that only young people, especially minors, get, and when older people are diagnosed with leukemia, many will wonder why they get leukemia even when they are older. In fact, leukemia is not the “patent” of young people, but some leukemia is better in older people.
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia is more common in older adults
First, there are acute and chronic leukemias, and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), which is the most common type of leukemia in the elderly, has an average age of 71 years, with 70% of patients older than 65 years old at the time of onset.
Low-onset gonorrhea has a slow onset, with symptoms such as low-grade fever, wasting, night sweats, enlarged lymph nodes and liver and spleen, and a slow progression with a survival period of 4-15 years or more. In the progressive stage of the disease, there are also oral drugs available, with less toxic side effects than intravenous chemotherapy, which are mostly tolerated by the elderly.
Predisposition to acute myeloid leukemia in the elderly
And among acute leukemias, acute lymphoblastic leukemia does have a higher incidence in children and young adults, but the opposite is true for acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML). Studies have shown that the average age of onset of AML is 67 years, and 54% of AML patients are older than 65 years.
AML has a rapid onset, with severe symptoms such as fever, bleeding, anemia, and cardiopulmonary failure, and is much more aggressive than CLL, with a typical survival time of 3 months without aggressive treatment.
Older patients with AML are often unable to tolerate the same high intensity chemotherapy as younger patients due to their physical condition, previous concomitant diseases, and organ function, so a comprehensive assessment is needed to balance efficacy and toxicities, sometimes with reduced intensity or even palliative treatment.
There is also a proportion of older AML that has progressed from myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) or secondary to radiotherapy for other solid tumors, which is relatively uncommon in younger AML. These older AMLs are more challenging to treat and have less favorable outcomes.