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Characteristics of patients diagnosed for acute myeloid leukemia before and during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic: the DATAML population-based cohort
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  • Published: 06 March 2026

Characteristics of patients diagnosed for acute myeloid leukemia before and during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic: the DATAML population-based cohort

  • Sébastien Lamy1,2,
  • Raphaël Fenni1,
  • Suzanne Tavitian3,
  • Léopoldine Lapierre3,
  • Thibaut Leguay4,
  • Jean Galtier4,
  • Audrey Sarry3,
  • Anne-Charlotte De-Grande4,
  • Emilie Berard1,5,
  • Arnaud Pigneux4,6,
  • Christian Récher3,7,
  • Pierre-Yves Dumas4,6 &
  • …
  • Sarah Bertoli3,7 

Scientific Reports , Article number:  (2026) Cite this article

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We are providing an unedited version of this manuscript to give early access to its findings. Before final publication, the manuscript will undergo further editing. Please note there may be errors present which affect the content, and all legal disclaimers apply.

Subjects

  • Cancer
  • Diseases
  • Medical research
  • Oncology

Abstract

Literature shows heterogeneous impact of recommendations to deal with sars-cov-2 infection on AML management during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic. Available French data only rely on monocentric observations or simulations. From the DATAML cohort, including all AML patients cared for in the centers of South-West France, we compared the characteristics of patients diagnosed in two periods: 2020 and 2015–2019. We use time series approach to describe the monthly proportion of patients with extreme values on hemoglobin, white blood cells, platelets, and blasts counts, as well as early deaths. We found a slight impact of the first lockdown on hemoglobin and platelets, with statistical significance reached only for platelets distribution gap between the two periods. Similar but less marked patterns were found for WBC and blood blasts. These did not translate in terms of early deaths, which was considered to be likely due to a favorable local conjuncture associating a moderate incidence of sars-cov-2 and the absence of bed closing in oncohematology or ICU dedicated to hematology in any centers providing intensive care for AML patients. Yet, our results might still be seen as an insight of what would have happened in less favorable contexts.

Data availability

The DATAML database is coordinated by CR and SB for the eastern sub-cohort and by PYD and AP for the western part. The data are accessible on demand formulated to the coordinators and will be assed according to the DATMAL data sharing agreement. All research teams, whether French or foreign, wishing to use DATAML cohort data must submit a request to Prof. Christian Récher (recher.christian@iuct-oncopole.fr) or Dr. Sarah Bertoli ( [bertoli.sarah@iuct-oncopole.fr](mailto: bertoli.sarah@iuct-oncopole.fr) ) for the LAM Toulouse cohort and/or Prof. Arnaud Pigneux (arnaud.pigneux@chu-bordeaux.fr) and Dr Pierre-Yves Dumas (pierre-yves.dumas@u-bordeaux.fr) for the LAM Bordeaux cohort) in the form of a synopsis that is sufficiently detailed to assess the scientific and methodological quality of the project. The project methodology must be validated by Dr Emilie Bérard (emilie.berard@utoulouse.fr). This may involve using available data and/or collecting additional data for a specific purpose. In the event of additional data collection, the applicant must obtain regulatory approvals relating to data confidentiality (authorization from the CNIL) and/or an ethics committee.

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Funding

This work benefited from the financial support from the GIRCI-SOHO to S Bertoli and from the French National League Against Cancer to CERPOP for supporting R Fenni works.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Epidemiology and Research on Population Health (CERPOP), UMR 1295 Inserm – University of Toulouse III Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France

    Sébastien Lamy, Raphaël Fenni & Emilie Berard

  2. Claudius Regaud Institute, Cancer Inequality Prevention and Reduction Unit, Toulouse University Cancer Institute – Oncopole (IUCT-O), Toulouse, France

    Sébastien Lamy

  3. Service d’Hématologie, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Toulouse, Institut Universitaire du Cancer de Toulouse Oncopole, Toulouse, France

    Suzanne Tavitian, Léopoldine Lapierre, Audrey Sarry, Christian Récher & Sarah Bertoli

  4. Service d’Hématologie Clinique et de Thérapie Cellulaire, CHU Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France

    Thibaut Leguay, Jean Galtier, Anne-Charlotte De-Grande, Arnaud Pigneux & Pierre-Yves Dumas

  5. Department of Epidemiology, Toulouse University Hospital, Toulouse, France

    Emilie Berard

  6. University of Bordeaux, BoRdeaux Institute of onCology, Inserm, UMR1312, BRIC, Bordeaux, France

    Arnaud Pigneux & Pierre-Yves Dumas

  7. Centre de Recherches en Cancérologie de Toulouse, Université de Toulouse, UPS, INSERM, CNRS, Toulouse, France

    Christian Récher & Sarah Bertoli

Authors
  1. Sébastien Lamy
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  2. Raphaël Fenni
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Contributions

SL, AP, CR, PYD and SB designed the study. AS and ACDG collected data. AS, ACDG, and EB controlled data quality. SL and RF designed the statistical analyses and analyzed the data. All authors have reviewed and discussed the results. SL RF PYD CR SB wrote the paper and all authors reviewed and corrected the paper.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sébastien Lamy.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare the following conflict of interest : PYD declares a consulting or advisory role with Daiichi-Sankyo, Jazz Pharmaceutical, Astellas, Abbvie, Celgene, Janssen, BMS, Gilead, Novartis, and Servier. CR declares a consulting or advisory role with Abbvie, Amgen, Astellas, BMS, Boehringer, Jazz Pharmaceuticals and Servier, and received research funding from Abbvie, Amgen, Astellas, BMS, Iqvia and Jazz Pharmaceuticals. SB declares a consulting or advisory role with Abbvie, Astellas, BMS-Celgene, Jazz Pharmaceuticals and Servier.

Ethics approval

The cohort has been approved by the national ethical authorities (CCTIRS (ref 15.319) and CNIL (ref 915285)).

Patients consent

All patients included in the DATAML cohort received and signed the information notice to express their non-opposition for the use of their data for research.

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Supplementary Information

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Supplementary Material 1 (download DOCX )

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Cite this article

Lamy, S., Fenni, R., Tavitian, S. et al. Characteristics of patients diagnosed for acute myeloid leukemia before and during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic: the DATAML population-based cohort. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-41768-w

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  • Received: 19 December 2025

  • Accepted: 23 February 2026

  • Published: 06 March 2026

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-41768-w

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Keywords

  • Covid-19
  • Acute Myeloid Leukemia
  • Observational cohort
  • Temporal variations
  • AML characteristics at diagnosis
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