Novel Management Options for Adult Patients With Progressive Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: A Case-Study Compendium

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a heterogeneous hematologic malignancy characterized by highly proliferative immature lymphoid cells in the bone marrow and peripheral blood. In adults, ALL accounts for approximately 20% of all adult leukemias. ALL carries a poor prognosis in adults. The 5-year overall survival is 24% in patients ages 40 to 59 years and 18% in patients ages 60 to 69 years. ALL can be grouped into different categories according to its cell lineage (B cell or T cell), the presence or absence of the Philadelphia chromosome, and various cytogenetic and molecular classifications. A main goal of treatment is to allow the patient to achieve a complete remission and to consolidate this remission with either a maintenance regimen or an allogeneic stem cell transplant. Although the overall rate of complete remission following frontline therapy for newly diagnosed ALL is high, the majority of patients experience a disease relapse. In general, the duration of initial complete remission impacts the patient’s prognosis and response to further therapies. Subsequent treatments must balance the goal of achieving a remission with the need for the patient to maintain or improve quality of life. Recently approved agents, such as blinatumomab and vincristine sulfate liposome injection, offer the promise of a second remission that can serve as a bridge to allogeneic stem cell transplant while still maintaining quality of life. A novel approach using adoptive cellular immunotherapy with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells is associated with extremely robust responses.