Incidence rates for acute myeloid leukemia were highest in Australia for men (2.8 per 100,000) and Austria for women (2.2), with the United States near the top for both men (2.6) and women (1.9). The lowest rates occurred in Cuba and Egypt for men (0.9 per 100,000) and Cuba for women (0.4), data from the WHO’s Cancer Incidence in Five Continents Volume X show.
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia incidence was highest for men in Canada (4.5 per 100,000), Ireland and Lithuania (4.4), and Slovakia (4.3). The incidence was highest for women in Lithuania (2.5), Canada (2.3), and Slovakia and Denmark (2.1). Incidence in the United States was 3.5 for men and 1.8 for women. At the other end of the scale, the lowest rates for both men and women were in Japan and Malaysia (0.1), the investigators’ analysis showed.
Chronic myeloid leukemia rates were the lowest of the subtypes, and Tunisia was the lowest for men at 0.4 per 100,000 and tied for lowest with Serbia, Slovenia, and Puerto Rico for women at 0.3. Incidence was highest for men in Australia at 1.8 per 100,000 and highest for women in Uruguay at 1.1. Rates in the United States were 1.3 for men and 0.8 for women, Dr. Miranda-Filho and his associates said.
“The higher incidence of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in parts of South America, as well as of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia in populations across North America and Oceania, alongside a lower incidence in Asia, might be important markers for further epidemiological study, and a means to better understand the underlying factors to support future cancer prevention strategies,” the investigators wrote.
SOURCE: Miranda-Filho A et al. Lancet Haematol. 2018;5:e14-24.