| 1. |
- Biondi, Andrea, et al.
(author)
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Imatinib after induction for treatment of children and adolescents with Philadelphia-chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (EsPhALL): a randomised, open-label, intergroup study
- 2012
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In: The Lancet Oncology. - 1474-5488. ; 13:9, s. 936-945
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background Trials of imatinib have provided evidence of activity in adults with Philadelphia-chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), but the drug's role when given with multidrug chemotherapy to children is unknown. This study assesses the safety and efficacy of oral imatinib in association with a Berlin-Frankfurt-Munster intensive chemotherapy regimen and allo geneic stem-cell transplantation for paediatric patients with Philadelphia-chromosome-positive ALL. Methods Patients aged 1-18 years recruited to national trials of front-line treatment for ALL were eligible if they had t(9;22)(q34;q11). Patients with abnormal renal or hepatic function, or an active systemic infection, were ineligible. Patients were enrolled by ten study groups between 2004 and 2009, and were classified as good risk or poor risk according to early response to induction treatment. Good-risk patients were randomly assigned by a web-based system with permuted blocks (size four) to receive post-induction imatinib with chemotherapy or chemotherapy only in a 1: 1 ratio, while all poor-risk patients received post-induction imatinib with chemotherapy. Patients were stratified by study group. The chemotherapy regimen was modelled on a Berlin-Frankfurt-Munster high-risk backbone; all received four post-induction blocks of chemotherapy after which they became eligible for stem-cell transplantation. The primary endpoints were disease-free survival at 4 years in the good-risk group and event-free survival at 4 years in the poor-risk group, analysed by intention to treat and a secondary analysis of patients as treated. The trial is registered with EudraCT (2004-001647-30) and ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00287105. Findings Between Jan 1, 2004, and Dec 31, 2009, we screened 229 patients and enrolled 178: 108 were good risk and 70 poor risk. 46 good-risk patients were assigned to receive imatinib and 44 to receive no imatinib. Median follow-up was 3.1 years (IQR 2.0-4.6). 4-year disease-free survival was 72.9% (95% CI 56.1-84.1) in the good-risk, imatinib group versus 61.7% (45.0-74.7) in the good-risk, no imatinib group (p=0.24). The hazard ratio (HR) for failure, adjusted for minimal residual disease, was 0.63 (0.28-1.41; p=0.26). The as-treated analysis showed 4-year disease-free survival was 75.2% (61.0-84.9) for good-risk patients receiving imatinib and 55.9% (36.1-71.7) for those who did not receive imatinib (p=0.06). 4-year event-free survival for poor-risk patients was 53.5% (40.4-65.0). Serious adverse events were much the same in the good-risk groups, with infections caused by myelosuppression the most common. 16 patients in the good-risk imatinib group versus ten in the good-risk, no imatinib group (p=0.64), and 24 in the poor-risk group, had a serious adverse event. Interpretation Our results suggests that imatinib in conjunction with intensive chemotherapy is well tolerated and might be beneficial for treatment of children with Philadelphia-chromosome-positive ALL.
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| 3. |
- Buitenkamp, Trudy D., et al.
(author)
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Acute lymphoblastic leukemia in children with Down syndrome : a retrospective analysis from the Ponte di Legno study group
- 2014
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In: Blood. - : American Society of Hematology. - 0006-4971 .- 1528-0020. ; 123:1, s. 70-77
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Children with Down syndrome (DS) have an increased risk of B-cell precursor (BCP) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The prognostic factors and outcome of DS-ALL patients treated in contemporary protocols are uncertain. We studied 653 DS-ALL patients enrolled in 16 international trials from 1995 to 2004. Non-DS BCP-ALL patients from the Dutch Child Oncology Group and Berlin-Frankfurt-Munster were reference cohorts. DS-ALL patients had a higher 8-year cumulative incidence of relapse (26% +/- 2% vs 15% +/- 1%, P < .001) and 2-year treatment-related mortality (TRM) (7% +/- 1% vs 2.0% +/- < 1%, P < .0001) than non-DS patients, resulting in lower 8-year event-free survival (EFS) (64% +/- 2% vs 81% +/- 2%, P < .0001) and overall survival (74% +/- 2% vs 89% +/- 1%, P < .0001). Independent favorable prognostic factors include age <6 years (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.58, P = .002), white blood cell (WBC) count <10 x 10(9)/L (HR = 0.60, P = .005), and ETV6-RUNX1 (HR = 0.14, P = .006) for EFS and age (HR = 0.48, P < .001), ETV6-RUNX1 (HR = 0.1, P = .016) and high hyperdiploidy (HeH) (HR = 0.29, P = .04) for relapse-free survival. TRM was the major cause of death in ETV6-RUNX1 and HeH DS-ALLs. Thus, while relapse is the main contributor to poorer survival in DS-ALL, infection-associated TRM was increased in all protocol elements, unrelated to treatment phase or regimen. Future strategies to improve outcome in DS-ALL should include improved supportive care throughout therapy and reduction of therapy in newly identified good-prognosis subgroups.
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| 4. |
- Enshaei, Amir, et al.
(author)
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A validated novel continuous prognostic index to deliver stratified medicine in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia
- 2020
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In: Blood. - : American Society of Hematology. - 0006-4971 .- 1528-0020. ; 135:17, s. 1438-1446
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Risk stratification is essential for the delivery of optimal treatment in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. However, current risk stratification algorithms dichotomize variables and apply risk factors independently, which may incorrectly assume identical associations across biologically heterogeneous subsets and reduce statistical power. Accordingly, we developed and validated a prognostic index (PIUKALL) that integrates multiple risk factors and uses continuous data. We created discovery (n = 2405) and validation (n = 2313) cohorts using data from 4 recent trials (UKALL2003, COALL-03, DCOG-ALL10, and NOPHO-ALL2008). Using the discovery cohort, multivariate Cox regression modeling defined a minimal model including white cell count at diagnosis, pretreatment cytogenetics, and end-of-induction minimal residual disease. Using this model, we defined PIUKALL as a continuous variable that assigns personalized risk scores. PIUKALL correlated with risk of relapse and was validated in an independent cohort. Using PIUKALL to risk stratify patients improved the concordance index for all end points compared with traditional algorithms. We used PIUKALL to define 4 clinically relevant risk groups that had differential relapse rates at 5 years and were similar between the 2 cohorts (discovery: low, 3% [95% confidence interval (CI), 2%-4%]; standard, 8% [95% CI, 6%-10%]; intermediate, 17% [95% CI, 14%-21%]; and high, 48% [95% CI, 36%-60%; validation: low, 4% [95% CI, 3%-6%]; standard, 9% [95% CI, 6%-12%]; intermediate, 17% [95% CI, 14%-21%]; and high, 35% [95% CI, 24%-48%]). Analysis of the area under the curve confirmed the PIUKALL groups were significantly better at predicting outcome than algorithms employed in each trial. PIUKALL provides an accurate method for predicting outcome and more flexible method for defining risk groups in future studies.
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| 5. |
- Ostergaard, Anna, et al.
(author)
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The Prognostic Effect of IKZF1 Deletions in ETV6:: RUNX1 and High Hyperdiploid Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
- 2023
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In: HemaSphere. - 2572-9241. ; 7:5, s. 875-875
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- IKZF1 deletions are an established prognostic factor in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). However, their relevance in patients with good risk genetics, namely ETV6::RUNX1 and high hyperdiploid (HeH), ALL remains unclear. We assessed the prognostic impact of IKZF1 deletions in 939 ETV6::RUNX1 and 968 HeH ALL patients by evaluating data from 16 trials from 9 study groups. Only 3% of ETV6::RUNX1 cases (n = 26) were IKZF1-deleted; this adversely affected survival combining all trials (5-year event-free survival [EFS], 79% versus 92%; P = 0.02). No relapses occurred among the 14 patients with an IKZF1 deletion treated on a minimal residual disease (MRD)-guided protocols. Nine percent of HeH cases (n = 85) had an IKZF1 deletion; this adversely affected survival in all trials (5-year EFS, 76% versus 89%; P = 0.006) and in MRD-guided protocols (73% versus 88%; P = 0.004). HeH cases with an IKZF1 deletion had significantly higher end of induction MRD values (P = 0.03). Multivariate Cox regression showed that IKZF1 deletions negatively affected survival independent of sex, age, and white blood cell count at diagnosis in HeH ALL (hazard ratio of relapse rate [95% confidence interval]: 2.48 [1.32-4.66]). There was no evidence to suggest that IKZF1 deletions affected outcome in the small number of ETV6::RUNX1 cases in MRD-guided protocols but that they are related to higher MRD values, higher relapse, and lower survival rates in HeH ALL. Future trials are needed to study whether stratifying by MRD is adequate for HeH patients or additional risk stratification is necessary.
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| 6. |
- Witt, Stefanie, et al.
(author)
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Effects of a Pretend Play Intervention on Health-Related Quality of Life in Children With Cancer: A Swedish–German Study
- 2023
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In: Journal of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Nursing. - : Sage Publications. - 2752-7530 .- 2752-7549. ; 40:3, s. 158-169
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Cancer diagnosis can lead to massive physical, emotional, and social burdens on children and their families. Although children have the right to be informed and participate in their care, research shows that children's views are often not considered in care situations. Thus, it is essential to strengthen children's communication and self-efficacy (SE) to convey desires and needs. The present study explores whether a play intervention is associated with improved health-related quality of life (HrQoL) and SE for communication in care situations. We hypothesize that HrQoL and SE for communication will increase from the beginning to after the pretend play intervention.Methods: Children with cancer from Germany and Sweden were enrolled. The pretend play intervention consisted of six to 10 play sessions. A heterogenic selection of questionnaires was used to measure children's HrQoL and SE before the first pretend play session and after the last play intervention.Results: Nineteen families were included in the presented analyses, including 14 self-reports of children and 19 proxy reports of parents. We found improvements in child-reported communication, and emotional and psychosocial well-being using generic and cancer-specific HrQoL measurements. Further, children's SE in care situations improved during the play intervention. Parents also reported minor improvements in the physical dimensions in both generic and chronic‐generic HrQoL, along with improvements in independence.Discussion: Overall, the cancer-specific pretend play intervention offers young children with cancer a secure environment and can contribute to their well-being, and communication skills, during or after cancer treatment.
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| 7. |
- Witt, Stefanie, et al.
(author)
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Exploring the Potential of a Pretend Play Intervention in Young Patients With Leukemia
- 2019
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In: Journal of Pediatric Nursing. - : ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC. - 0882-5963 .- 1532-8449. ; 44, s. E98-E106
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Purpose: The aims of the study are 1) to gain knowledge of parents' and professionals' perceptions about cancer stricken children's resources, burdens, and ability to pretend play, and 2) to prepare the initiation of a pretend play intervention based on children's needs and included parents' and professionals' feedback.Design and Methods: Qualitative design using semi-structured interviews with 13 parents of children diagnosed with leukemia and 15 professionals in the field of pediatric oncology. Themes were derived with content analysis via deductive and inductive coding.Results: Analysis resulted in five topics. (1) Ability to play in the context of leukemia (2) ways of coping with leukemia (3) difficulty in transition to normality (4) parental quality of life and parents' needs (5) perceptions of the potential of pretend play.Conclusion: Study results indicate the potential of pretend play interventions for young cancer patients and the need for additional professional support of parents.Practice Implications: Pretend play is a tool children carry with them regardless of their circumstances. If we can enhance their ability to play, doing so should give them an advantage in creative problem solving and creative expression as they deal with a life threatening disease.
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