Treatment of Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

December 20, 2007 updated by: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
The purpose of this study is to reduce the side-effects and discomfort of anti-leukemia therapy, to attain long-term control of the disease and to hopefully eradicate it.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Terminated

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

  • Children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) are treated somewhat differently depending upon on the relative risk of the leukemia recurring. For this study they are classified into "Standard Risk", "High Risk" and "Infant/High Risk".
  • The treatment for patients in the "Standard Risk" and "High Risk" groups consists of three phases of therapy: induction treatment; prevention of brain and spinal cord leukemia (CNS treatment); and intensification/continuation chemotherapy.
  • The treatment for patients in the "Infant/High Risk" group consists of four phases of therapy: induction treatment; infant intensification therapy; intensification/continuation chemotherapy; and CNS treatment.
  • The induction treatment consists of a combination of chemotherapy drugs whose purpose is to kill all detectable leukemia cells. This process usually requires a least one month and includes six anti-leukemia drugs. These drugs are: vincristine, doxorubicin, methotrexate, cytosine arabinoside, asparaginase and steroids (methylprednisolone or prednisone).
  • After the induction phase, "Infant/High Risk" patients will receive a highly intensive month of treatment (infant intensification) . Drugs used during this month include high-dose methotrexate, asparaginase, 6-mercaptopurine and high dose cytosine arabinoside (ARA-C).
  • CNS treatment begins during induction therapy but is intensified during the second and third month after diagnosis. Treatment for all patients will include a series of spinal taps with the instillation of anti-leukemia drugs, including cytosine arabinoside and methotrexate and with or without hydrocortisone (depending upon randomization).
  • All high risk patients (those in both "High Risk" and "Infant/High Risk") as well as some standard risk patients will receive radiation treatment to the brain. Radiation therapy will either be given in either "conventional" treatments (once daily for 10 days), or "hyperfractionated" treatments (twice daily at half doses for 10 days). Total dose of radiation is 1800 cGy.
  • Intensification and continuation therapy, begins 4-5 weeks after diagnosis for "Standard Risk" and "High Risk" groups and 4-5 weeks after infant intensification in "Infant/High Risk" group. This phase of treatment continues until the completion of two years of treatment. Patients in the "Standard Risk" group will receive five anti-leukemia drugs (vincristine, prednisone, methotrexate, asparaginase, and 6-mercaptopurine). Patients in "High Risk" and "Infant/High Risk" will receive six anti-leukemia drugs (vincristine, prednisone, doxorubicin, methotrexate, asparaginase and 6-mercaptopurine).
  • All patients will be able to participate in a randomization comparing two types of asparaginase, E.coli and Erwinia. Patients will be randomized to receive either once weekly E.coli or once-weekly Erwinia during the Intensification phase, each given for a total of 20 weeks.
  • Patients in the "Standard Risk" group are able to participate in an additional randomization. Standard risk patients will be randomized to receive one of two different regimens designed to prevent central nervous system leukemia, either 1)radiation therapy (given twice daily) with chemotherapy in the spinal fluid every 18 weeks, or 2) intensive chemotherapy in the spinal fluid alone without radiation.
  • Patients in the "High Risk" and "Infant/High Risk" groups are able to participate in two randomizations in addition to the asparaginase randomization. The first will be to assess whether the drug dexrazoxane prevents heart damage caused by doxorubicin without affecting risk of relapse. Patients will be randomized to receive either doxorubicin alone or doxorubicin with dexrazoxane during the induction, CNS and intensification phases. The second randomization will compare the relative efficacy and toxicity of different cranial radiation schedules. Patients will be randomized to receive radiation in either once daily or twice daily fractions.
  • Blood and bone marrow samples will be collected to learn more about the biology of leukemia. These samples will also be used to test minimal residual disease levels to learn if these levels help predict risk of relapse.
  • Quality of life questionnaires will also be performed by the parents of patients, by children over eight, and by the child's clinician.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
491

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Phase 3

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Canada
    • Ontario
      • Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
        • McMaster University
    • Quebec
      • Montreal, Quebec, Canada
        • Laval University
      • Montreal, Quebec, Canada
        • Sainte Justine Hosptial
  • Puerto Rico
      • Santurce, Puerto Rico, 00912
        • San Jorge Children's Hospital
  • United States
    • Louisiana
      • New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, 70121
        • Ochsner Clinic
    • Maine
      • Lewiston, Maine, United States, 04240
        • Maine Medical Center
    • Massachusetts
      • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02115
        • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
      • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02115
        • Children's Hospital Boston
    • New York
      • New York, New York, United States, 10029
        • Mt. Sinai Medical Center
      • Rochester, New York, United States, 14627
        • University of Rochester

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

No older than 18 years (Child, Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Acute lymphoblastic leukemia, excluding known mature B-cell ALL
  • < 18 years of age
  • Patients who are leukopheresed or exchanged are eligible for study only after completion of the pheresis or exchange transfusion
  • Absence of a t(8,14) (q24; q32), t (8,22), t(2,8)
  • Total bilirubin < 1.4mg/dl

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Known HIV positive
  • Prior steroid therapy within 30 days of diagnosis
  • Septic shock
  • Ongoing intracranial hemorrhage
  • Clinical evidence of CNS or lung leukostasis

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
-To evaluate the efficacy and safety of doxorubicin with or without dexrazoxane
-To determine the efficacy of hyperfractionated radiation plus standard intrathecal chemotherapy compared with intensive intrathecal chemotherapy alone in standard risk patients.
-To compare the relative efficacy and toxicity of E.coli and Erwinia asparaginase
-To compare the relative efficacy and toxicity of cranial radiation delivered in once-daily versus twice-daily fractions in high risk patinets.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
-To compare randomized treatment groups using health-related quality of life analyses.

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
Boston Children's Hospital

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Stephen E. Sallan, MD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
January 1, 1996

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
September 1, 2006

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
September 1, 2006

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
September 9, 2005

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
September 9, 2005

First Posted (Estimate)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
September 14, 2005

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
December 28, 2007

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
December 20, 2007

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
December 1, 2007

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 95-001

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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