title: Modern therapy of acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
abstract: Although acute lymphoblastic leukemia is curable in one third of adult patients, results vary greatly on account of different clinical, immunologic, and cytogenetic/genetic characteristics. These data, along with the kinetics of response to early treatment, help establish the individual risk class with considerable accuracy, and support risk-specific treatments that should warrant optimal results with as little as possible nonrelapse mortality. Modern first-line therapy consists of standard- and high-dose chemotherapy (increasingly inspired to pediatric principles), hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation, and new targeted therapy, all integrated with the analysis of prognostic factors and the study of subclinical residual disease for key therapeutic decisions. These changes are improving long-term outcome, which in ongoing studies is expected close to 50% or greater.
authors.affiliation: Ospedali Riuniti, Largo Barozzi 1, 24128 Bergamo, Italy. rbassan@ospedaliriuniti.bergamo.it
authors.forename: Renato
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bassan
authors.forename: Dieter
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hoelzer
mesh_terms: D002869:Chromosome Aberrations; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D018365:Neoplasm, Residual; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000235:genetics / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D011379:Prognosis; D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors