Chris Mitchell

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors assessed whether treatment intensity could be adjusted for children and young adults according to MRD risk stratification and found no significant difference in EFS between the groups given one delayed intensification (94·4% at 5 years, 95% CI 91·1-97·7) and that given two delayed intensifications (95·5, 92·8-98·2; unadjusted odds ratio 1·00, 95 percent CI 0·43-2·31; twosided p=0·99).

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyzed cytogenetic data from 1725 children with B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukaemia who were included in the UK Medical Research Council ALL97/99 study and followed up for a median time of 8·2 years.

TL;DR: The use of 6·5 mg/m2 dexamethasone throughout treatment for ALL led to a significant decrease in the risk of relapse for all risk‐groups of patients and, despite the increased toxicity, should now be regarded as part of standard therapy for childhood ALL.

TL;DR: The findings suggest that children and young people with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and 0·01% or more MRD at the end of remission induction therapy could benefit from augmented post-remission therapy, but the asparaginase and intravenous methotrexate used in the augmented treatment regimen is associated with more adverse events than is the standard post- Remission treatment regimen.

TL;DR: The recent and updated retrospective comparative analysis of adolescents treated on the Medical Research Council (MRC) trials adds further emphasis to the treatment approach and the merits and limitations of treatment of adolescents on paediatric and adult trials.