Acute lymphoblastic leukemia is a malignant disease or cancer of the blood characterized by the rapid uncontrolled growth of abnormal, immature white blood cells known as lymphoblasts. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia is the most common leukemia in children, with approximately 3,000 new patients diagnosed each year in the United States. It is uncommon in adults between 15 and 50 years of age, but occurs more frequently in individuals over 50 years of age.

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) can be cured in 70-80% of children and 25%-30% of adults following treatment with standard combination chemotherapy. It is important to understand what determines the success or failure of treatment in order to assure the best outcome for an individual patient.

A variety of factors ultimately influence a patient's decision to receive treatment of cancer. The purpose of receiving cancer treatment may be to improve symptoms through local control of the cancer, increase a patient's chance of cure, or prolong a patient's survival. The potential benefits of receiving cancer treatment must be carefully balanced with the potential risks of receiving cancer treatment.

The following is a general overview of the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Circumstances unique to your situation and prognostic factors of your cancer may ultimately influence how these general treatment principles are applied. The information on this Web site is intended to help educate you about your treatment options and to facilitate a mutual or shared decision-making process with your treating cancer physician.

Most new treatments are developed in clinical trials. Clinical trials are studies that evaluate the effectiveness of new drugs or treatment strategies. The development of more effective cancer treatments requires that new and innovative therapies be evaluated with cancer patients. Participation in a clinical trial may offer access to better treatments and advance the existing knowledge about treatment of this cancer. Clinical trials are available for most stages of cancer. Patients who are interested in participating in a clinical trial should discuss the risks and benefits of clinical trials with their physician. To ensure that you are receiving the optimal treatment of your cancer, it is important to stay informed and follow the cancer news in order to learn about new treatments and the results of clinical trials.

In order to understand the best treatment options available for acute lymphoblastic leukemia, patients should know whether they have a B-cell or T-cell leukemia, the classification or histologic subtype (L1-L3) of leukemia, the initial white blood cell count, and the results of analyses of chromosomes by cytogenetic examination. These are all tests that are performed on a sample obtained from the bone marrow. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia is frequently associated with abnormal chromosomes of the leukemia cells. Knowing the specific chromosomal abnormalities associated with your leukemia can be important for treatment planning.

The treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia occurs in two phases. The initial treatment phase is called remission induction and the goal of remission induction therapy is to achieve a complete remission or disappearance of all detectable leukemia cells. After a complete remission is achieved, the second phase of treatment, called post-remission therapy, begins. Post-remission therapy is necessary because despite achieving a complete remission of leukemia with induction treatment, hidden undetectable leukemia cells still exist and the leukemia will return without additional post-remission therapy. Post-remission therapy is often referred to as consolidation.