Chronic lymphocytic leukemia in a young population

Introduction: Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is uncommon in the Middle East. There is limited data on the prognosis and of CLL in this region. Methods: This was a retrospective study (2009–2020) of consecutively diagnosed patients with CLL at Kuwait Cancer Center. The diagnosis, prognosis, treatment indication, response criteria, and adverse events were recorded per International Workshop on Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia guidelines. Results: A total of 219 patients with CLL were enrolled in the study. The crude annual incidence is 0.4 per 100,000. The median follow-up was 120 months. The median age at diagnosis was 59 years, and 32 % of patients with CLL were ≤ 55 years of age. Prognostic fluorescence in situ hybridization data were available in 213 cases. del (13q14/13q34) was found in 80 (31 %) cases, del (11q) in 23 (10.7 %) cases, del (17p) in 11 (5.16 %) cases, and trisomy 12 in 46 (21.5 %) cases. IGHV mutation status was available in 92 cases, 45 of which (48.9) were mutated and 47 (51.1 %) of which were not. The median progression-free survival (PFS) for the entire cohort was 178 months [95 % CI: 145-NE].· The median OS was 203 months [95 % CI: 145-NE]. The median PFS for the IGHV mutated cases was not reached [95 % CI: 178 – NE]; while the median PFS for the unmutated CLL cases was 24 months [95 % CI: 124 – NE]. Conclusion: CLL is a rare hematological malignancy in the Middle East. Our CLL cohort is younger and expresses less del13q, but has similar rates of IGHV mutations.