Recent Results in Cancer Research: Nomenclature, Methodology and Results of Clinical Trials in Acute Leukemias,

Before the era of chemotherapy in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the median survival time from diagnosis to death was approximately three to four months. Modern regimens employing combination chemotherapy and prophylactic central nervous system therapy are now capable of inducing complete remission in about 90% of children with ALL and approximately 20% to as many as 50% of patients are alive without hematologic or extramedullary relapse for five or more years following diagnosis. Despite the improved outlook, long-term remission and survival for all patients with ALL is still the elusive goal of hematologists and oncologists. It is now recognized that the variability in prognosis may be related to the interaction of specific host, disease, and treatment factors and that certain prognostic features, identifiable at diagnosis, are the key determinants of short- or long-term survival. This book, the proceedings of a workshop held in June 1972 at the Centre National de