title: Treatment of adult acute lymphoblastic leukaemia using an intensive chemotherapy protocol.
abstract: A total of 25 evaluable adult patients with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) were treated with an intensive chemotherapy regime modified from the L17/L17M protocol of the Sloan-Kettering Hospital. There were 18 men and 7 women; their median age was 36 years (range, 13-78). Seven cases had L1 morphology and 18, L2. The immunophenotype was common-ALL in 10, null-ALL in 9, T-ALL in 4 and B-ALL in 1. Of the 25 patients, 14 (56%) achieved a complete remission (CR). The causes of induction failure were partial remission (PR) only in 7 (28%) and hypoplastic death in 4 (16%). Of the 14 CR patients, 11 (78.6%) relapsed. Five patients developed CNS disease. The median disease-free survival and overall survival were only 9 and 13 months, respectively. As the follow-up periods of the surviving patients were short, late relapses may still occur and the overall treatment result is likely to be worse on longer follow-up. The possible causes of this disappointing result are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: T K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: G T
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Todd
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000556:secondary; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000188:drug therapy*; D011379:Prognosis