Factors associated with receipt of hematopoietic cell transplantation for acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Aim: To evaluate practice patterns of hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) for acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Materials & methods: We utilized the National Cancer Database to extract patient-level data of adults (aged 18-80 years) diagnosed with acute lymbhoblastic leukemia between 2003 and 2012. We performed multivariable logistic regression to determine variables associated with the use of HCT. Results: Out of a total of 11,871 patients, 12.7% received HCT. In a multivariate analysis, older age, male sex, higher Charlson co-morbidity score, nonacademic treatment center, poor education and Medicare/Medicaid or no insurance were associated with lower likelihood of receiving HCT. Conclusion: Our study demonstrates variations in the utilization of HCT based on socioeconomic and health system factors.