Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL)
Author: Maria Yiallouros, erstellt 2006/04/14, Reviewer: Prof. Dr. med. Günter Henze, English Translation: Dr. med. Gesche Tallen, Last modification: 2011/03/29 doi:10.1591/poh.patinfo.all.1.20060414 , Kurz-URL: www.kinderkrebsinfo.de/ALL
The acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), also known as acute lymphatic leukaemia, is a malignant disease of the bone marrow. The following text on ALL is written for patients and their families. It is intended to explain the disease and its treatment options. It cannot substitute the necessary conversations with the physicians in charge and other members of the treatment team. However, the information might help to prepare such conversations and to improve understanding.
Leukaemias are malignant diseases of the bone marrow. With about 34 % of all malignant diseases, they are the most common cancers in childhood and adolescence.
The acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) is the most frequent type of leukaemia in childhood and adolescence. The leukaemia cells divide fast. Without treatment, they quickly spread throughout the body. They disrupt the normal production of blood cells in the bone marrow, damage organs and thus cause fatal diseases which – if untreated – will lead to death within a few months.
Once ALL has been diagnosed in a young person, there is no reason for losing hope, since diagnostics and treatment have improved markedly during the past decades and so have cure rates. Today's multimodal treatment options including combination chemotherapy make it possible, that about 80% of the children and teenagers survive their ALL. [BRE2001] [SCH2000f] [PUI2004].
Note
The text was written based on the literature listed below as well as on the updated national guidelines and therapy protocols for treatment of children and adolescents with ALL. Further references are cited in the text.
Basisliteratur 
- Schrappe M, Creutzig U: Akute lymphoblastische (ALL) und akute myeloische (AML) Leukämie im Kindesalter. Interdisziplinäre Leitlinie der Deutschen Krebsgesellschaft und der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Pädiatrische Onkologie und Hämatologie. AWMF online 2008 [URI: http://www.awmf.org/uploads/tx_szleitlinien/025-014.pdf]
- Henze G: Leukämien, in Gutjahr P: Krebs bei Kindern und Jugendlichen. Deutscher Ärzte-Verlag Köln 5. Aufl. 2004, 293 [ISBN: 3769104285
- Gutjahr P: Krebs bei Kindern und Jugendlichen. Deutscher Ärzte-Verlag Köln 5. Aufl. 2004 [ISBN: 3769104285
- Pui CH: Treatment of Acute Leukemias. New Directions for Clinical Research. Totowa, NJ: Humana Press Inc 2003 [ISBN: 0-89603-834-3
- Creutzig U, Schrappe M: Acute leukemia in childhood. Classification--diagnosis--therapy--prognosis. Internist (Berl) 1996, 37: 982 [PMID: 9019456]
Table of contents
[BRE2001] Brenner H, Kaatsch P, Burkhardt-Hammer T, Harms D, Schrappe M, Michaelis J: Long-term survival of children with leukemia achieved by the end of the second millennium. Cancer 2001, 92: 1977 [PMID: 11745273]
[SCH2000f] Schrappe M, Reiter A, Zimmermann M, Harbott J, Ludwig W, Henze G, Gadner H, Odenwald E, Riehm H: Long-term results of four consecutive trials in childhood ALL performed by the ALL-BFM study group from 1981 to 1995. Berlin-Frankfurt-Münster. Leukemia 2000, 14: 2205 [PMID: 11187912]
[PUI2004] Pui C, Schrappe M, Masera G, Nachman J, Gadner H, Eden O, Evans W, Gaynon P: Ponte di Legno Working Group. Leukemia 2004, 18: 1043 [PMID: 15085155]
