Virginia Research Day 2025

Medical Student Research Clinical

25 Impact of Deprivation Index on Diagnosis and Medication: A Focus on Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Zita Venetianer; Pranav Varrey; Austin McCowan; Jim Mahaney, PhD Corresponding author: zvenetianer@vcom.edu

Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine

Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) is a fast-progressing cancer and is the most prevalent acute leukemia in adults. AML develops when bone marrow produces a large number of immature blood cells called myeloblasts. This overgrowth of abnormal cells leads to an inability of the bone marrow to make healthy blood cells such as red blood cells and platelets, impairing the body’s ability to function properly. The purpose of this study is to compare the role of the socioeconomic factors play in the diagnosis and pharmaceutical treatment of AML patients. Currently, the standard of care treatment for AML is the combination of the two chemotherapies of Cytarabine and Daunorubicin, followed by either consolidation chemotherapy or allogeneic stem cell transplant. This treatment combination has changed

very little over the last forty years, however, recently, molecular target agents have been discovered. Two new targeted therapies were approved in the last few years, Venetoclax and Azacitidine. These two new medications both show increased median overall survival with AML. Our study looks at how socioeconomic status can influence the diagnosis and treatment of AML. By using the All of Us database created by NIH, we gathered an AML sample population of 547. In this population, we had 244 males and 303 females. We analyzed the socioeconomic factors within this population. We then looked at 3 AML medications: Cytarabine + Daunorubicin (n=55), Azacitidine (n=40), and Venetoclax (n=48), and analyzed the socioeconomic factors of the patients with AML who were given these pharmaceutical agents.

The findings indicate that a patient’s age at diagnosis of AML was not affected by their deprivation index. Additionally, the deprivation index for male vs females diagnosed with AML was not significantly different. However, females were found to develop AML at a younger age than males. These results suggest that the risk of developing AML is consistent for most of the population and is unaffected by socioeconomic status. There also does not appear to be a link between demographical factors and socioeconomic status and their choice of treatment medication.

IRB Waiver 2024-219 was granted for this project.

149 2025 Research Recognition Day