title: Modern treatment programs for adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
abstract: The current treatment programs for adult patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia are modeled on pediatric regimens. The result has been complete remission rates comparable to those seen in children, but a significant proportion of adult patients relapse. Salvage therapy for patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia continues to have limited success. Advances in molecular biology have discovered new targets for therapeutic intervention, and the introduction of some targeted agents, such as the new tyrosine kinase inhibitors and monoclonal antibodies, has led to improvements in response and survival in some subsets. The development of techniques for identification and monitoring of minimal residual leukemia has provided possible ways to predict relapse and consider early intervention. It is likely that we will further refine therapeutic approaches and improve patient outcome through the translation of biologic and molecular discoveries into effective and risk-adapted strategies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Leukemia, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Boulevard, Houston, TX 77030, USA. fravandi@mdanderson.org
authors.forename: Farhad
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ravandi
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Faderl
authors.forename: Partow
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kebriaei
authors.forename: Hagop
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kantarjian
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002051:Burkitt Lymphoma / Q000188:drug therapy; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000473:pathology; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D016371:Cranial Irradiation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017254:Leukemic Infiltration / Q000517:prevention & control; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015337:Multicenter Studies as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010677:Philadelphia Chromosome; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery; D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012074:Remission Induction; D016879:Salvage Therapy; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous
chemical_list: D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors