Recent experience with intensive combination chemotherapy for treatment of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia

Forty-eight children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) who presented to the Oncology Department of Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children, Crumlin, Dublin over a 52 month period were treated using a schedule modified from the BFM-81 protocol. All patients achieved remission within four weeks. With a minimum follow up period of 18 months, actuarial disease free survival was 68% and overall survival 75%. Mean hospital stay throughout the treatment period was 31 days. While these results represent an improvement in overall survival compared with historical controls, careful selection of risk categories will be the major aim of future studies so that more appropriate treatment can be instituted for high risk patients while minimising therapy for low risk disease.