[Survival in adults with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia].
BACKGROUND
The Norwegian treatment protocol for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in adults was introduced in 1982 and has undergone minor changes thereafter. Earlier studies from The South Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority have reported 50 % five-year overall survival in patients treated according to this protocol. This article presents survival data for Norwegian adults with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia on a national basis.


METHODS
Data for all patients between 15 and 65 years, who were diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in the period 2000-2007 according to The Norwegian Registry for Acute Leukaemia and Lymphoblastic Lymphoma, and were treated with chemotherapy with a curative intent were analysed for survival.


RESULTS
128 patients were diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in the study period. The overall remission rate was 85.9 %. Five-year survival was 49.2 % overall, 31.4 % for patients 40 years or older and 62.6 % for those younger than 40 years.


CONCLUSIONS
These results are in line with previous Norwegian studies and show a five- year overall survival which is more than 10 % higher than that reported in international multicenter studies. One explanation can be that the Norwegian treatment program is more intensive than most treatment protocols used in other countries.
Tangen
Jon-Magnus
JM
Avdeling for blodsykdommer, Oslo universitetssykehus, Ullevål, 0407 Oslo, Norway. jmta@uus.no
Fløisand
Yngvar
Y
Haukås
Einar
E
Naess
Inger Anne
IA
Skjelbakken
Tove
T
Stapnes
Camilla
C
Tjønnfjord
Geir E
GE
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D015452:Precursor B-Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000401:mortality; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000401:mortality*; D054218:Precursor T-Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000401:mortality; D011379:Prognosis; D012042:Registries; D015996:Survival Rate; D055815:Young Adult