Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is diagnosed in 3000 to 4000 persons in the United States each year; two thirds of them are children.1,2 The current rate of cure of nearly 80 percent in children attests to remarkable progress in the development of effective treatments for resistant subtypes of the disease. Progress has been incremental, from the introduction of combination chemotherapy and central nervous system treatment for presymptomatic leukemia to newer, intensive treatment regimens for patients at high risk for relapse (Figure 1). In contrast, only 30 to 40 percent of adults with ALL are cured.2,3 This discrepancy can . . .