Can We Afford to Treat Acute Leukemia?

Abstract

Since Farber described the first complete remissions of acute leukemia in children in the Journal 32 years ago,¹ knowledge of strategies to improve survival and the quality of life in patients with this disease has increased rapidly. In this issue, Blume and his associates discuss the use of allogeneic bone-marrow transplantation in support of intensive therapy. Their study provides important confirmation of the technique developed by Thomas et al. from Seattle. It is now clear that survival can be prolonged by this strategy in a fraction of adults with acute leukemia. At the recent national meeting of the American Society . . .