Publication Date:
2014-12-06
Description:
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) has a high relapse rate in adults. While the biology of the patient may be responsible for the marked difference in survival seen in comparison to children, variable adherence to complex chemotherapy regimens may also play a role. However, there is very little understanding about the risk factors for delays in therapy and the impact of delays on survival. To study delays in newly diagnosed adult ALL patients, we conducted an observational study using data from ECOG 2993/ MRC_UKALLXII (Rowe, Blood 2005). We analyzed Ph- patients who started intensification after documented complete remission (CR). A long delay (LD) was defined as 〉 98 days from start of induction to start of intensification (IS), which was 〉2 weeks delay beyond the 84 days recommended per protocol. A Very Long Delay (VLD) was defined as a 〉4 weeks delay. Of 2109 patients enrolled, 1247 patients met inclusion criteria for analysis. Of note, 435 Ph- patients who achieved CR after induction but did not proceed to intensification were excluded. In univariate analysis, female sex (p
Print ISSN:
0006-4971
Electronic ISSN:
1528-0020
Topics:
Biology
,
Medicine