A multicenter retrospective study to understand the clinical characteristics for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia: asian subgroup analysis of creek study

Introduction: The prevalence of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) in Asia-Pacific countries is generally lower than in Western countries. However, due to the highly variable patient and disease characteristics, there is a critical need for more disease-related information on Asian CLL patients to manage the disease effectively. To address these gaps, we have established a multicenter, registry-based study called CREEK: CLL REtrospective real-world Evidence Key data from Middle East and North Africa, Asia, and Latin America. This interim analysis of the CREEK Study aimed to describe patient and disease characteristics of CLL in four Asia-Pacific countries. Methods: The CREEK study is a retrospective observational study to describe disease characteristics, treatment patterns, treatment-related outcomes, and resource utilization for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL). This interim analysis included 258 CLL patients who received treatment between 1 June 2016 and 12 months before data collection in four Asian-Pacific countries: India, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Singapore. Patients’ demographics, clinical characteristics, laboratory investigations, comorbidities, and risk groups were recorded. Summary statistics and statistical tests were performed using IBM-SPSS. Results: The study enrolled 258 patients with an average age of 63.3 ± 11.85 years, of whom the majority were males (73.3%). The Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) score was reported in 162 (62.9%) patients, with 153 (59.3%) of patients scored 0-1, while 9 (3.5%) scored >1. As per the Cumulative Illness Rating Scale (CIRS), severe comorbidities, including musculoskeletal (0.4%), hepatic and pancreatic (0.4%), and cardiac (1.2%) comorbidities, were reported. Around 8.5% and 8.9% of eligible patients were current and former smokers, respectively. The International Prognostic Index (IPI) for CLL was documented in 47 patients (18.2%), with four (1.5%) classified as very high-risk, 11 (4.3%) as high-risk, 18 (7%) as intermediate, and 14 (5.4%) as low-risk. About 21.7% of patients had mildly impaired renal function with eGFR of 60–89 mL/min. The average number of days from diagnosis to study enrolment (treatment start) was 650 days. Conclusions: This interim analysis showed that most patients had a normal ECOG score, and low rates of severe comorbidities, with a male-to-female ratio higher than described for western countries. The International Prognostic Index (IPI) for CLL was documented in a minority of patients mainly because the low testing rate for IGHV mutational status and TP53 alterations. Further analyses are ongoing, including assessment of treatment patterns, treatment-related outcomes, and resource utilization. Keywords: Asian-Pacific, chronic lymphocytic leukemia; clinical characteristics The research was funded by AstraZeneca UK Limited Conflict of interest: F. Gonzalez Employment or leadership position: Francisco Gonzalez is an employee for AstraZeneca D. H. Shankar Employment or leadership position: Drupad Shankar is an employee for AstraZeneca