title: Prognostic factors for relapsed childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia: impact of allogeneic stem cell transplantation--a report from the Kyushu-Yamaguchi Children's Cancer Study Group.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The treatment results of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) with a first relapse were retrospectively analyzed to determine prognostic factors. In particular, an attempt was made to clarify whether stem cell transplantation (SCT) had any advantages over chemotherapy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Of the 407 children with ALL diagnosed between 1984 and 1996, 117 suffered from a relapse before December 1999. The patients were treated differently according to the protocols of each institution. The potential prognostic factors examined were: the time of initial diagnosis, gender, immunophenotype of leukemic blasts and the NCI-risk classification at initial diagnosis, the site of relapse, the time of relapse (early: within 18 months after diagnosis, intermediate: other than either early or late relapse, late: later than 6 months after the discontinuation of front-line chemotherapy), and the treatment after relapse (chemotherapy alone and SCT).
  
  
  RESULTS
  A second complete remission (CR2) was achieved in 90 patients (77%) and thirty of them maintained CR2, thus resulting in an event-free survival rate (EFS) of 25.1% and an overall survival rate of 26.1%. The significant prognostic factors identified by a multivariate analysis included the time of relapse (EFS: early 16.2%, intermediate 23.9%, late 35.1%, P = 0.012) and the treatment after relapse (EFS: SCT 30.3%, chemotherapy 22.0%, P = 0.049). When patients with an isolated bone marrow relapse and continuous CR2 for more than 3 months were analyzed, the treatment in CR2 was the only independent prognostic factor (EFS: SCT 60.2%, chemotherapy 25.7%, P = 0.005).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In children with ALL and a first relapse, the time of relapse and the treatment after relapse were found to be independent prognostic factors. Allogeneic SCT in CR2 showed significantly better results than chemotherapy in patients with an isolated bone marrow relapse.
authors.affiliation: Division of Child Health, School of Health Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan. matsuzaki@shs.kyushu-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Akinobu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Matsuzaki
authors.forename: Yoshihisa
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nagatoshi
authors.forename: Hiroko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Inada
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nakayama
authors.forename: Fumio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yanai
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ayukawa
authors.forename: Kiyoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kawakami
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Moritake
authors.forename: Aiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Suminoe
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Okamura
mesh_terms: D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012008:Recurrence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012306:Risk; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation