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  • Title: Intensive oral methotrexate protects against lymphoid marrow relapse in childhood B-precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
    Author: Winick N, Shuster JJ, Bowman WP, Borowitz M, Farrow A, Jacaruso D, Buchanan GR, Kamen BA.
    Journal: J Clin Oncol; 1996 Oct; 14(10):2803-11. PubMed ID: 8874342.
    Abstract:
    PURPOSE: To describe the use of combination chemotherapy, including divided-dose oral methotrexate (dMTX), for children with B-precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). dMTX produced prolonged MTX exposure on an outpatient basis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Two hundred forty-three patients were treated from January 1986 to May 1992. dMTX was given weekly during consolidation and biweekly for the first 16 months of continuation therapy with mercaptopurine (6-MP) and asparaginase (L-ASP). Initially, etoposide (VP-16) and cytarabine (Ara-C) pulses were included. Treatment continued for 30 months with single-dose weekly MTX replacing dMTX during continuation, part 2. Unexpected acute neurotoxicity was eliminated by the addition of leucovorin. VP-16 and Ara-C were omitted in the face of acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). RESULTS: Two hundred thirty-nine patients entered remission: 16 had a lymphoid marrow relapse, two each with testicular or CNS relapse; 19 a CNS relapse; 16 secondary AML; three other second malignancies; two withdrew for transplant; three died in remission; 16 withdrew because of noncompliance, and nine withdrew with toxicity. Event-free survival (EFS) at 4 years was 73 +/- 4%; 81 +/- 4% for 150 patients with better risk features and 60 +/- 7% for 93 with high-risk features. Lymphoid marrow relapse-free survival in the standard- and high-risk patients was 94 +/- 3% and 86% +/- 6%, respectively. The most common adverse event was secondary AML in the standard-risk group and isolated CNS relapse in the high-risk group. CONCLUSION: This therapy produced an overall EFS similar to other published regimens, but the pattern of failures is very different, with few patients having a lymphoid marrow relapse. These data suggest that highly effective therapy for children with ALL can be delivered on an outpatient basis using a regimen featuring repetitive dMTX.
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