Treating childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia in a developing country 1998-2003: the experience of a single children's hospital in China.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the outcome of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) treating with ALL China-98 in a single children's Hospital in China.


METHODS
Between 1998 and June 2003, a total of 58 children in our hospital were treated according to ALL China-98. The patients were >or=1 and <or=15 years of age at diagnosis. The date of last follow-up was 31 December 2005.


RESULTS
The 5-year event-free survival (EFS) rate was 51.30% with a median observation time of 3.37 years. EFS was 63.51% in low-risk group and 46.20% in high-risk group (P=0.025). The overall survival was 57.69%. The overall mortality from sepsis was 15.5%. Relapse occurred in 24.1% of patients.


CONCLUSIONS
Compared with reports from industrialized countries, our experience with ALL China-98 protocol showed a lower remission rate, a lower 5-year EFS, and a higher mortality from sepsis. Treating ALL patients with definitively effective treatment guidelines or protocols and establishment of strategies to reduce deaths from sepsis are the priorities.
Gao
Yi-Jin
YJ
Division of Hematology/Oncology, Children's Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China. gaoyijin@hotmail.com
Lu
Feng-Juan
FJ
Wang
Hong-Sheng
HS
D000293:Adolescent; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000008:administration & dosage; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China; D019049:Developed Countries; D003906:Developing Countries; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006776:Hospitals, Pediatric; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality*; D012008:Recurrence; D012074:Remission Induction / Q000379:methods; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D018805:Sepsis / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality; D015996:Survival Rate