60-day mortality of AML still is vital clinical problem cared by hematologist, our study explored the association between serum ALB and 60-day mortality only in patients with primary AML in Hakka population. This study indicates patients with normal serum ALB levels have a lower risk of 60-day mortality, and the risk decreased with an increase in serum ALB levels, regardless of sex, age, Glu level, e.g.. The results remained robust with no or gradual adjustments.
Previous studies have examined the relationship between serum albumin and survival in AML. Wang et al. examined the association between baseline serum ALB and overall survival (OS) in 243 AML patients (including those with primary and secondary AMLs) who received induction chemotherapy treatment; their results showed that ALB (per 1 g/L increase) were associated with a 9% increase in the OS rate (HR = 0.910, 95% CI: 0.878—0.943), and patients with an ALB level of > 35 g/L had an increasing OS rate of 65.7% compared with those ≤ 35 g/L (HR = 0.343, 95% CI: 0.241–0.48) (15); The results of other studies were similar to the findings of our study (16, 17). However, our study had the largest sample of primary AML patients, since the secondary ones might have treatment-related complications and low baseline serum albumin levels, due to primary disease or chemotherapy. Furthermore, serum albumin was divided into two or three groups, then their association between 60-day mortality was evaluated, respectively; All the Results showed that serum ALB was a protective factor against 60-day mortality in AML patients, and the protective effect became more significant as the ALB level increased. Serum albumin is a well-known surrogate of the general condition and nutritional status of comorbidities (including liver and kidney function). Serum ALB maintains the normal nutritional state of the human body and colloidal osmotic pressure, such as plasma. Furthermore, it is an indicator of chronic inflammation (6, 7, 18–20). Low serum albumin levels resulting from inflammation-induced capillary leakage or disease related anorexia during acute illness are associated with poor outcomes (11, 21). Additionally, Dylan et al. reports that albumin is a major antiapoptotic signaling component and is involved in the transport and metabolism of chemotherapeutic drugs for leukemia (22).These previous studies may help the risk associated with low serum albumin and high 60-day mortality.
Hematologists usually evaluate the risk of early mortality based on the clinical performance status and laboratory data. However, the definition of early mortality in AML remains controversial; it was defined as death within 60 days from final diagnosis or the start of chemotherapy (6, 7). Either 60-day mortality or early mortality remains a major clinical problem, which is the first step toward successful treatment of AML patients. Its causes remain complicated and unclear, even though hematologists have been struggling to reduce its risk. The early mortality was 21.0–37.5% reported in previous studies (6, 7, 23, 24), and 60-day mortality was 29.2% in our study, therefore, our result was similar to previous studies. However, our study differs slightly from theirs. Most previous studies only included patients who received chemotherapy (15, 25), while others without chemotherapy were excluded. Among these excluded patients, most of them, were extremely poor making them unsuitable to receive anti-leukemia treatment, due to the existing comorbidities (7). For example, some patients developed secondary diffuse intravascular coagulation (DIC) with severe intracerebral or pulmonary hemorrhage upon admission, and were unable to receive chemotherapy as they died quickly; and they were excluded subjectively. Thus, early mortality in these studies might be reduced due to patient selection bias, and our study might reflect a real association between serum ALB and 60-day mortality in the real world.
This study has several noteworthy limitations. Firstly, although it included several key covariates, unmeasured factors may have contributed to the increased risk of adverse events in patients with a low serum albumin. Secondly, although these findings raised questions regarding the potential risk for 60-day mortality, interpretation of the results is limited by the observational nature of the study; therefore, the study might not provide direct evidence for predicting 60-day mortality in AML patients. Thirdly, this was a retrospective study; the data were collected from 2013 to 2021 (over an 8-year period), and some data on the date of death were obtained by telephone follow-up and may be biased. To reduce bias, interviews with at least two or three family members were conducted to determine the exact survival time of the patients. Meanwhile, different batches of ALB reagents affected the test results to some degree. To make the value dependable, internal quality control (IQC), which becomes the integral part of daily work, is required to ensure the result is controlled before testing the clinical specimens. We have participated an external quality assessment (EQA) organized by the NCCL thrice a year to ensure the accuracy of the testing results since the 1990s. Fortunately, all EQA results were satisfied duration of this study. Meanwhile, the instrument must be calibrated twice a year as part of regular maintenance. Therefore, all the testing results were dependable.