Outcomes of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in adolescent and young adult Korean patients

Abstract

This study used Korean national data to investigate the relationship between treatment patterns and outcomes in Korean adolescent and young-adult (AYA) acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) patients. Chemotherapy incorporating L-asparaginase was considered paediatric-inspired (PI), as opposed to adult protocols. In total, 65·3% of patients received PI therapy. Five-year overall survival (OS) of PI-treated patients outperformed adult protocols (63·1% vs. 40·4%; P < 0·0001); this trend was maintained within various age subgroups. Younger age, L-asparaginase therapy, and radiotherapy corresponded with superior OS by multivariable analysis. OS tends to improve with PI protocols that include L-asparaginase in AYA ALL, suggesting that therapy protocol is critical in the treatment performance of this group.