Therapy of Adult Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Preliminary Results of the GIMEMA ALL/0288 Study

The GIMEMA ALL/0288, a multicenter Italian trial for the treatment of adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), was activated in January 1988 and is still ongoing. The main objective of the study is to evaluate the impact on disease outcome of two distinct therapeutic maneuvers: 1) the addition of Cyclophosphamide to a standard four-drug initial induction regimen; 2) the use of an intensive consolidation program with five blocks of drugs rotated sequentially for three full cycles. Following the initial report by investigators of the German BFM Cooperative Group in pediatric ALL (1), an additional objective of the study is to assess, in a large cohort of adults, the prognostic significance of early leukemia cytoreduction induced by a 7-day pre-induction exposure to Prednisone.