title: The Outcome of Philadelphia Chromosome-Positive Adult ALL: Characteristics and Prognosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The Philadelphia (Ph) chromosome is a well- known chromosome abnormality in adults with B-lineage ALL, and is associated with a poor prognosis. This study compared the clinical manifestations and prognosis in adult Ph-positive and Ph-negative ALL patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  We retrospectively analyzed the clinical records of adult patients newly diagnosed as B-lineage ALL, between January 1995 and February 2001. Fifty five patients were included in this study. We divided the patients into Ph-positive and Ph-negative groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Eighteen of the 55 patients (32.7%) were found to have the Ph chromosome. At initial diagnosis, the Ph-positive patients had higher circulating leukocyte counts, lower platelet counts and had a greater tendency to bleed, than the Ph-negative group. The complete remission rates were 83.3% and 83.8% for the Ph-positive and the Ph-negative groups, respectively. Four of the Ph-positive, and 13 of the Ph-negative, patients underwent allogenic bone marrow transplantation. The median follow-up for the surviving patients was 39.3 months. The three-year survival rates were 10.4% and 51.8% for the Ph-positive and the Ph-negative groups, respectively. The median disease-free survival was 7.7 months for the Ph-positive group, but did not reach the median value in the Ph-negative group. Among the Ph-positive patients, age was the only factor that had an impact on the disease outcome.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In adult B-lineage ALL, the Ph-positive patients had similar complete remission rates to other patients; however, the remission was of shorter duration, with a higher relapse rate in the Ph-positive patients. More effective treatments are needed to improve the survival of the Ph-positive patients.
authors.forename: Hun Ho
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Je Hwan
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Byung Min
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Jeon
authors.forename: Jung Hee
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Eul Ju
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.forename: Chan Jeoung
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Hyun Sook
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Chi
authors.forename: Jung Shin
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Woo Kun
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Kyoo Hyung
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Lee
keywords: Adult B-lineage ALL; Philadelphia chromosome; Prognosis