Terra med Alliance News For kids with leukemia, radiation may be safe to skip

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}   Infact, doctors from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital found that childrenwho had chemotherapy alone had a longer remission period and experienced feweradverse events than those who, in the past, had also been given radiationtreatments. "Effectivechemotherapy can cure up to 90 percent of all children with acute lymphoblasticleukemia without the use of cranial irradiation," said study author Dr.Ching-Hon Pui, chairman of oncology at the hospital, in Memphis, Tenn. "Survivorsof childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia can now enjoy excellent quality oflife, virtually similar to that of the general population," Pui said.   Thestudy is reported in the June 25 issue of the New England Journal ofMedicine . Leukemia,a cancer that begins in the bone marrow and affects blood cells, is the mostcommon type of cancer affecting children and teens, according to the AmericanCancer Society. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common type ofchildhood leukemia, affecting about three out of every four children with thedisease.   Historically,treatment included chemotherapy plus preventive radiation of the brain,according to Pui. And, though the addition of radiation was believed to improvesurvival, the treatment had serious side effects, including an increased risk foranother cancer, cognitive deficits and growth retardation.   Chemotherapyregimens have improved over time, but fear remained that not giving childrenradiation would mean that residual cancer cells might be missed, allowing theleukemia to return.   Thestudy included the evaluation of 71 children who, in the past, would havereceived preventive cranial radiation but now were being treated with systemicchemotherapy or chemotherapy administered intrathecally (through a lumbarpuncture). They were compared with 56 youngsters who had been treated withprophylactic cranial radiation for ALL. Thefive-year remission rate for the chemotherapy-only group was 90.8 percent, vs.73 percent for the group also given radiation treatment. Eleven children in thechemotherapy group had central nervous system relapses, but all were able toachieve a second remission.   "Witheffective chemotherapy, prophylactic cranial irradiation can be safely omittedin all children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia," Pui said.   Dr.A. Kim Ritchey, chief of the division of pediatric hematology/oncology atChildren's Hospital of Pittsburgh, said that the study "may not be thefinal answer, but my personal bias has always been to decrease radiation asmuch as possible." "Thetreatment of leukemia has become more and more individualized, and high-riskpatients can get more therapy, sometimes even based on their genotype, and thisstudy makes the point that you can attempt to treat high-risk patients withoutcranial radiation," he said. "This is the type of data we love to seein pediatric oncology because we're very concerned about the effects oftreatment after the cure." -- Serena Gordon Terra med Alliance is a non-profitorganization in the battle against leukemia   helps   children living with cancerand their families. Our goal is to make sure children battling cancer know theyare not alone. For more information please visit www.terramedalliance.org.   Email at contact@terramedalliance.org

Was this helpful? 0 0 Comments

You're reading Terra med Alliance News For kids with leukemia, radiation may be safe to skip.