| Abstract: |
229 children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) and with clinical and laboratory features associated with a high risk of treatment failure entered a randomised study of three treatment regimens. Before 1981, such patients had a 3-year event-free survival (EFS) of 47%. Two intensive therapies, the Berlin-Frankfurt-Munster (BFM) 76/79 regimen and the New York (NY) regimen were compared with a control regimen that had achieved the best outcome in previous trials. Data on 214 cases (93·4%) were analysed. The 3-year EFS was 78% for the BFM and NY regimens and 49% for the control regimen, a significant difference. The differences persisted after stratification by age at onset, sex, white blood cell count at diagnosis, and marrow blast morphology. Control patients were 2·7 times more likely to fail induction, to die, or to relapse than were patients on the intensive regimens. © 1988. |
| Keywords: |
survival; adolescent; adult; child; controlled study; child, preschool; major clinical study; prednisone; clinical trial; cancer recurrence; comparative study; combined modality therapy; cytarabine; methotrexate; randomized controlled trial; antineoplastic combined chemotherapy protocols; radiotherapy dosage; radiotherapy; cyclophosphamide; vincristine; acute lymphoblastic leukemia; infant; meningeal neoplasms; drug combinations; mercaptopurine; sulfamethoxazole; trimethoprim; 6-mercaptopurine; trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole combination; leukemia, lymphocytic, acute; prognosis; human; male; female; priority journal; support, u.s. gov't, p.h.s.
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