Assessment of Minimal Residual Disease in Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: A Multicenter Study From Turkey.

Assestment of minimal residual disease (MRD) in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is of utmost importance both for risk classification and tailoring of the therapy. The data of pediatric ALL patients that received treatment with Berlin-Frankfurt-Münster (BFM) protocols were retrospectively collected from 5 university hospitals in Turkey. Of the 1388 patients enrolled in the study 390 were treated according to MRD-based protocols. MRD assestment was with real time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) in 283 patients and with multiparametric flow cytometry (MFC)-MRD in 107 patients. MRD monitoring had upstaged a total of 8 patients (2%) from intermediate risk group to high-risk group. Univariate analysis revealed age 10 years or above, prednisone poor response, PCR-MRD ≥10-3 on day 33 and on day 78 as poor prognostic factors affecting event-free survival (EFS). Detection of >10% blasts on day 15 with MFC (MFC-high-risk group) was not shown to affect EFS and/or overall survival (log-rank P=0.339). Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed PCR-MRD ≥10-3 on day 78 as the only poor prognostic factor affecting EFS (odds ratio: 8.03; 95% confidence interval: 2.5-25; P=0.000). It is very important to establish the infrastructure and ensure necessary standardization for both MRD methods for optimal management of children with ALL.

Assessment of Health-Related Quality of Life in Pediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Survivors: Perceptions of Children, Siblings, and Parents

Objective: We investigated the health-related quality of life (HRQL) in survivors of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and evaluated the perceptions of the children, their siblings, and their parents. Materials and Methods: Seventy ALL survivors, who were between 7 and 17 years of age and had completed therapy ≥2 years, were included. The control group consisted of their healthy siblings. HRQL was assessed by the age-specific KINDLR questionnaire. Results: No significant differences could be found among HRQL scores of ALL survivors with respect to variables such as sex, risk group, and having chronic illness. HRQL scores for physical well-being, emotional well-being, family, and social functioning of the patient and sibling self-reports and parent proxy reports were lower than the expected values for healthy and chronically ill children. Conclusion: These results demonstrate that both ALL survivors and their families need help via psychological counseling programs to improve their HRQL even after completion of therapy.

Assessment of neuropsychological late effects in survivors of childhood leukemia.

The neurologic dysfunctions caused by treatment may affect health and quality of life in survivors of childhood leukemia. The objective of this study was to identify the neuropsychological late effects of leukemia treatment to provide an assessment about the degree and incidence of these late effects. Neurological and ophtalmological examination, cranial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), auditory and neurocognitive tests, and questionnaires of quality of life were performed to 44 acute leukemia survivors at least 5 years after diagnosis. Median time since completion of chemotherapy was 7.5 years (2-18) and median age at the time of the study was 16.4 years (8-31). At least one or more late effects detected by physical examination (PE), neurological tests, or neurocognitive tests encountered in 80% of the patients, and 64% of the patients specified at least one complaint in the quality of life questionnaire. MRI revealed pathological findings in 18% and electroencephalogram (EEG) abnormalities were present in 9% of the patients. Evaluation of total intelligence scores revealed that 30% of patients' IQ scores were <80 and 70% of the patients' scores demonstrated neurocognitive dysfunctions. The patients >6 years at the time of diagnosis were found to have more psychological problems and higher rates of smoking and alcohol consumption. The most frequent complaint was headache and the most common problem in school was denoted as difficulty in concentration. Our study demonstrated that most of the survivors of childhood leukemia are at risk of developing neuropsycological late effects.

Assessment of febrile neutropenia episodes in children with acute leukemia treated with BFM protocols.

The authors overviewed 239 febrile neutropenia (FN) episodes in 82 pediatric leukemia cases treated with BFM treatment protocols. FN was observed mostly during consolidation therapy. Mucositis was the most identified focus; gram-negative microorganisms were the most identified pathogens. Five patients developed invasive fungal infections. Fever resolved after mean 5.3 days and mean antibiotic administration time was 12.7 days. Addition of G-CSF to antimicrobial therapy shortened the duration of neutropenia, but it did not affect duration of fever resolution and antibiotic administration. The duration of neutropenia, fever resolution, and antibiotic administration was significantly longer in children with acute myeloid leukemia. The authors conclude that children with acute leukemia have severe prolonged neutropenia and are in high risk. In these patients, prediction of the risk of bacteremia based on clinical and laboratory features is important for immediate empiric broad-spectrum antimicrobial therapy and for higher survival rate.

Assessment of peripheral lymphadenopathies: experience at a pediatric hematology-oncology department in Turkey.

Since a large variety of disorders may lead to lymph node enlargement determining the cause of peripheral lymphadenopathy (LAP) in children can be difficult. This retrospective study evaluated 200 children who were admitted to an Oncology-Hematology department because of lymphadenopathy and aimed to determine the clinical and laboratory findings that were valuable for differential diagnosis. A specific cause for lymphadenopathy was documented in 93 (46.5%) cases. One hundred forty (70%) children were classified as having a benign cause for lymph node enlargements. Fourteen (10%) of these cases underwent an excisional lymph node biopsy, and histopathological examination showed a reactive hyperplasia. Sixty (30%) cases were classified as having a malignant disease-causing lymphadenopathy. In terms of differential diagnosis, some associated systemic symptoms, physical findings, and laboratory investigations showed significant difference between benign and malignant lymphadenopathy groups. The following findings were determined as being important to alert the physician about the probability of a malignant disorder: location of the lymphadenapathy (supraclavicular and posterior auricular), duration of the lymph node enlargement (>4 weeks), size of the lymph node (>3 cm), abnormal complete blood cell findings, abnormalities in chest X-ray, and abdominal ultrasonography.