Abstract

*Dr. Eda Balkaya

ABSTRACT

Background: After demonstrating the relationship between blood types and stomach cancer, it was suggested that there may be a relationship between blood groups and other cancers. There are few studies on the relationship between hematological malignancies and blood groups, and these studies yielded different and conflicting results. Objectives: The aim of this study was to identify any association between ABO and Rh blood groups with childhood acute leukemias and lymphomas and their outcome. If there is a relationship, it may be used as a marker for epidemiology and prognosis of acute leukemias and lymphomas. Methods: This is a hospital based retrospective study, conducted between January 1991 and December 2006. Total 986 patients’ records, whom were below the age of 16 years with newly diagnosed acute leukemias and lymphomas were reviewed. ABO and Rh blood groups distributions of patients diagnosed with acute leukemias and lymphomas were compared with ABO and Rh blood group distribution of healthy people in Turkey. Results: In this study, 986 patients under 16 years of age were included. Of 986 cases of malignencies, the most common was Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) (44.3%), Hodgkin Lymphoma (HL) (19.9%), Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) (16.1%), Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL) (13.8%), and the least Burkitt Lymphoma (BL) (5.9%). The distribution of blood grouping showed that, mainly of cases were of blood Group A (43.2%), followed by O (32.4%), B (17.3%), and AB (7.1%). Majority of cases were Rh positive (90.6%). We found that only Rh (+) blood group in AML was statistically significantly higher than other groups and general in Turkey. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that larger-scale clinical studies are needed to use blood group antigens as long-term follow-up and prognosis indicators in AML, also more studies at the molecular level. In addition, the studies examining the relationship between transferase enzymes and carcinogenesis are required for the formation of A antigen and B antigen.