The purpose of the study was to examine the influence of age on outcome in a large cohort of @entity1 and adults with @entity981 who were treated on two similar trials. Factors influencing outcome were examined in 2204 @entity1 aged over 1 year treated between 1985 and 1992 on the parallel Medical Research Council Trials UKALL X and XA, for @entity1 and adults, respectively. There was a progressive worsening in survival with increasing age from 85% (95% CI 83-87) at 5 years for @entity1 aged 1-9 to 24% (CI 17-31) for @entity1 over 40. Induction failures, @entity204 in remission and bone marrow relapses increased significantly with age. Analysis of clinical and biological features showed dominance of early B-ALL in childhood and increasing incidence of the Ph' chromosome with age. Over 80% of eligible @entity1 , but a much lower proportion of adults especially those over 40, was entered. Compliance was stricter in the paediatric trial but most deviations in adults involved giving more treatment. Analysis of results in a proportional hazards model confirmed the overwhelming independent influence of age; with all other factors equal a 10 year old had half the risk of treatment failure of a 20 year old and a 44 year old double the risk. Selective entry to therapeutic trials and increased treatment-related @entity137 are features of @entity981 but age itself remains a dominant prognostic factor. While improved supportive care and refinements of conventional therapy may have some effect on prognosis, new understandings and treatment approaches to @entity981 are needed.

The impact of age on outcome in XXXX ; MRC UKALL X and XA compared: a report from the MRC Paediatric and Adult Working Parties.

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['children', 'patients'] @entity981 :: ('MESH:D054198', 'Disease') :: ['adult ALL', 'lymphoblastic leukaemia'] @entity204 :: ('MESH:D003643', 'Disease') :: ['deaths'] @entity137 :: ('MESH:D064420', 'Disease') :: ['toxicity']
@entity981 :: (MESH:D054198,Disease) :: ['lymphoblastic leukaemia']
