ADULT ACUTE LYMPHOBLASTIC-LEUKEMIA - RESULTS OF AN AGGRESSIVE REGIMENIN INDIA

A total of 42 adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia were treated wi th an aggressive induction/consolidation chemotherapy (MCP-841) betwee n June 1986 and December 1991. 32 patients (76.19%) achieved complete remission at the end of induction. There were 9 induction deaths, 6 of them due to infection. All patients received cranial irradiation in t he dose of 20 Gy and intrathecal methotrexate for CNS prophylaxis. Twe lve patients relapsed, 10 in the bone marrow, one case had isolated CN S relapse and the other relapsed in the bone marrow and CNS. The actua rial overall survival of all patients at the end of 5 years was 41.94% . Patient characteristics including age, sex, FAB morphology, phenotyp e, WBC count, platelet count and LDH did not influence survival signif icantly.