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Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia of Adulthood: Progress or Not?

  • Leukemia (Janice Dutcher, section editor)
  • Published:
Current Treatment Options in Oncology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Opinion statement

Much new information about ALL in adults has recently been learned from major clinical and laboratory studies. However, much of the recently reported improved management of this leukemia pertains only to younger patients. Elderly patients do not fair very well with modern therapy, including intensified treatment approaches. The question arises whether current treatment may be unnecessarily intensive, not only for elderly patients but for most patients. There are no prospective, randomized studies that clearly demonstrate that anthracyclines, cyclophosphamide or cytarabine are required for optimal results in this leukemia. Eliminating drugs of marginal value but with the potential for considerable toxicity may allow us to intensify treatment with drugs that are most effective at a cost of even less toxicity than usually expected.

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Disclosure

P. Wiernik: Received honoraria and had travel/accommodations expenses covered or reimbursed by Celgene.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Leukemia Program, Continuum Cancer Centers of New York, St. Luke’s – Roosevelt Hospital Center, 1000 10th Ave., Ste. 11C02, New York, NY, 10019, USA

    Peter H. Wiernik MD (Director)

  2. Beth Israel Medical Center, New York, NY, USA

    Peter H. Wiernik MD (Director)

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  1. Peter H. Wiernik MD
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Correspondence to Peter H. Wiernik MD.

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Wiernik, P.H. Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia of Adulthood: Progress or Not?. Curr. Treat. Options in Oncol. 12, 303–311 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11864-011-0167-z

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