Cessation of Therapy during Complete Remission of Childhood Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia

Abstract

To assess the need for prolonged therapy in acute lymphocytic leukemia in remission, we studied the course of 132 patients removed from therapy after two to three years of remission. The median period off therapy was 21 months, with a range of one month to 7.5 years. Of the patients removed from therapy, 21 have relapsed (16 per cent). Of the patients who relapsed, six had not received specific Central-nervous-system therapy.