Overall and Event-free Survival in Children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and Evaluation of Treatment Related Acute Toxicity

Objective: The study aimed to evaluate the acute toxicity, overall survival (OS) and event-free survival (EFS) of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
Material and Methods: This study included retrospective analysis of the medical records of 129 pediatric ALL patients aged 1 to 18 years old. Gender, risk group, central nervous system involvement at diagnosis, relapse and mortality status of patients, OS and EFS was evaluated. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate survival rates. The survival difference of two groups was compared using the log-rank test.
Results: Eighty-six (66%) patients were boys and forty-three (33%) were girls. The mean age at diagnosis was 6.9±4.46 and 5.6±4.01 in male and female, respectively. Seventeen (13%) patients were classified as standard risk, 76 (58%) were intermediate risk, and 36 (27%) were high risk. Three patients (2.3%) died from acute toxicity during induction therapy. The median duration of follow-up was 25 months (range 1-65 months). The estimated 5-year OS and EFS was 88±4.6% and 78±4.1%, respectively. The estimated 5-year OS for the standard, intermediate and high-risk groups were 94±5.7%, 93±3.1%, and 59±13%, respectively, and EFS was 94±5.7%, 86.6±4.2%, and 49.9±10%, respectively.
Conclusion: The OS and EFS for standard-risk and intermediate-risk groups were good and comparable to the literature. However, the current study’s results should be confirmed in a larger patient population and a longer follow-up period.