Science / Medicine : Treatment Offers Hope on Lymphoblastic Leukemia

A new treatment for the most common form of leukemia among young children appears to significantly increase the chances of survival, doctors said last week. The treatment produced successful results in 79% of 1,600 patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia involved in a six-year nationwide study, researchers said.

Conventional treatments have produced a success rate of 59%, said Dr. David Tubergen, medical director at Children’s Hospital of Denver at a news conference.

The new approach differs from conventional therapy by eliminating the use of radiation treatments, which can produce significant adverse side effects, he said. Instead, doctors administer a cancer chemotherapy drug known as methotrexate, Tubergen said.

In addition, doctors wait several months until after the treatment appears to have produced a remission and then administer an intensive round of conventional chemotherapy, he said.

The study was aimed at children under the age of 10, said Tubergen.