Premium
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia in adults and children. Differences in response with similar therapeutic regimens
Author(s) -
Gee Timothy S.,
Haghbin Mahroo,
Dowling Monroe D.,
Cunningham Isabel,
Middleman Mary P.,
Clarkson Bayard D.
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0142(197603)37:3<1256::aid-cncr2820370305>3.0.co;2-r
Subject(s) - medicine , lymphoblastic leukemia , oncology , leukemia , pediatrics
Twenty‐three adult patients (ages greater than 15 years) and 75 children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia were treated with similar intensive, sequential cytotoxic protocols (L‐2). The adult patients have a lower remission rate (78%) than the children (98%). The duration of remission and the length of survival are also shorter in adults. The incidence of central nervous system (CNS) relapse in adults (27.7%) is higher than in children (7.1%) suggesting that prolonged prophylactic intrathecal methotrexate as given to the children is more effective than the schedule used for adults where intrathecal methotrexate was given only in the first 2 months of therapy. The low incidence of CNS involvement in children on the L‐2 protocol compares favorably with other series reported using a combination of cranial irradiation and intrathecal methotrexate. In both adults and children there seemed to be a higher incidence of CNS involvement in patients with initial white blood cell counts greater than 25,000 cells/mm 3 .