Clinical trial NCT00002816: Combination Chemotherapy in Treating Children With Relapsed Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
Official title: EXTRAMEDULLARY RELAPSE AND OCCULT BONE MARROW INVOLVEMENT IN CHILDHOOD ACUTE LYMPHOBLASTIC LEUKEMIA: A PHASE III GROUP-WIDE STUDY
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: PHASE3
Conditions: Leukemia
Keywords: recurrent childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia
Lead sponsor: Children's Oncology Group
Sponsor class: NETWORK
Collaborators: name: National Cancer Institute (NCI)
First posted: 2004-06-23
Enrollment: 120
Sex: ALL
Maximum age (years): 20
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy use different ways to stop cancer cells from dividing so they stop growing or die.

PURPOSE: Phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of combination chemotherapy in treating children who have relapsed acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Detailed description: OBJECTIVES: I. Improve the outcome in children with first isolated central nervous system (CNS), testicular, or ocular relapse of acute lymphoblastic lymphoma (ALL), and increase the knowledge of the characteristics of extramedullary and subsequent relapses of ALL. II. Quantitate, by current molecular biologic techniques, occult systemic leukemia in cases of conventional isolated extramedullary relapse, and examine the relationship between this assessment and subsequent clinical outcome, particularly overt marrow relapse. III. Quantitate occult systemic leukemia in subsets of extramedullary relapse that include site (CNS, testis, or eye), time of relapse (early or late), initial risk group, immunophenotype, DNA index and karyotype, gender (for CNS and eye), and ethnicity, and assess the response to therapy in patients entered on companion protocol CCG-B958. IV. Compare the relative sensitivities of two quantitative in vitro assays for occult systemic leukemia (fluorescence-activated cell sorter/leukemic progenitor cell clonogenic assay vs. polymerase chain reaction-based clonospecific assay), correlate the assays with clinical outcome, and assess other biologic studies of leukemic cells (e.g., neurotropic potential in the SCID mouse xenograft model and methotrexate sensitivity). V. Determine the event-free survival (EFS) and pattern of failure in children with first isolated CNS, testicular, or ocular relapse after treatment that includes intensive systemic chemotherapy. VI. Correlate EFS in patients with CNS and ocular relapse with sex, and in patients with relapse at all three sites with ethnicity. VII. Evaluate the impact of combined chemotherapy and radiotherapy on health status in survivors at two and four years after extramedullary relapse and study entry.

OUTLINE: All patients receive induction chemotherapy over 5 weeks with: etoposide, ifosfamide/mesna, dexamethasone, vincristine, and pegaspargase (if pegaspargase is not available, E. coli asparaginase may be substituted throughout study); then dexamethasone, vincristine, pegaspargase (or E. coli asparaginase), and high-dose methotrexate with leucovorin rescue; and triple intrathecal chemotherapy (TIT). Following induction chemotherapy, all patients receive two 6-week courses of intensification therapy with intermittent TIT; each course consists of dexamethasone, vincristine, high-dose methotrexate/leucovorin, thioguanine, cytarabine, etoposide, and pegaspargase (or E. coli asparaginase) followed by dexamethasone, vincristine, high-dose methotrexate/leucovorin, thioguanine, ifosfamide/mesna, and idarubicin. Patients receive 2 additional courses of intensification chemotherapy followed by four 12-week courses of maintenance chemotherapy with vincristine and methotrexate every 2 weeks and daily oral thioguanine. Total duration of therapy is 78 weeks. Patients with isolated ocular relapse receive local radiotherapy prior to initiation of induction chemotherapy; those who also have CNS leukemia begin TIT with the radiotherapy. Patients with CNS relapse receive craniospinal irradiation during the first month of maintenance therapy, with the dose and fields based on whether they will receive TBI and whether they have had CNS irradiation previously. Patients with testicular relapse receive bilateral testicular irradiation during the first 3 weeks of intensification therapy. Patients are followed every 3 months for 3 years, every 6 months for 3 years, and yearly thereafter, or upon relapse, second malignancy, loss to follow up, or death. All patients undergo quality-of-life assessment at entry and 2 and 4 years after entry.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: Approximately 120 patients will be accrued for this study.

Eligibility criteria: DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) with isolated extramedullary relapse Relapse occurred during or following front-line therapy for ALL Initial diagnosis of more than 25% blasts of L1 or L2 morphology No leukemic marrow (M1) by conventional assessment Patients with B precursor ALL must also be enrolled on study CCG-B958 Relapse occurred in the CNS, testis, or eye Ocular relapse confirmed by an ophthalmologist and by cytology or iris biopsy Combined CNS and ocular relapse eligible Down Syndrome patients not eligible No prior bone marrow transplantation in first remission No prior toxicity from any study drugs Patient age: Under 21

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS: See General Eligibility Criteria

Primary outcomes:
measure: Event Free Survival
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Long Beach
country: United States
facility: Long Beach Memorial Medical Center
state: California
city: Los Angeles
country: United States
facility: Children's Hospital Los Angeles
state: California
city: Los Angeles
country: United States
facility: Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, UCLA
state: California
city: Orange
country: United States
facility: Children's Hospital of Orange County
state: California
city: San Francisco
country: United States
facility: UCSF Cancer Center and Cancer Research Institute
state: California
city: Denver
country: United States
facility: Children's Hospital of Denver
state: Colorado
city: Washington
country: United States
facility: Children's National Medical Center
state: District of Columbia
city: Chicago
country: United States
facility: University of Chicago Cancer Research Center
state: Illinois
city: Indianapolis
country: United States
facility: Indiana University Cancer Center
state: Indiana
city: Iowa City
country: United States
facility: University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics
state: Iowa
city: Ann Arbor
country: United States
facility: University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center
state: Michigan
city: Minneapolis
country: United States
facility: University of Minnesota Cancer Center
state: Minnesota
city: Rochester
country: United States
facility: Mayo Clinic Cancer Center
state: Minnesota
city: Kansas City
country: United States
facility: Children's Mercy Hospital - Kansas City
state: Missouri
city: Omaha
country: United States
facility: University of Nebraska Medical Center
state: Nebraska
city: New York
country: United States
facility: Kaplan Cancer Center
state: New York
city: New York
country: United States
facility: Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
state: New York
city: New York
country: United States
facility: Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center
state: New York
city: Chapel Hill
country: United States
facility: Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, UNC
state: North Carolina
city: Cincinnati
country: United States
facility: Children's Hospital Medical Center - Cincinnati
state: Ohio
city: Cleveland
country: United States
facility: Ireland Cancer Center
state: Ohio
city: Columbus
country: United States
facility: Children's Hospital of Columbus
state: Ohio
city: Portland
country: United States
facility: Doernbecher Children's Hospital
state: Oregon
city: Philadelphia
country: United States
facility: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
state: Pennsylvania
city: Pittsburgh
country: United States
facility: Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh
state: Pennsylvania
city: Nashville
country: United States
facility: Vanderbilt Cancer Center
state: Tennessee
city: Salt Lake City
country: United States
facility: Huntsman Cancer Institute
state: Utah
city: Seattle
country: United States
facility: Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center - Seattle
state: Washington
city: Seattle
country: United States
facility: Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
state: Washington
city: Madison
country: United States
facility: University of Wisconsin Comprehensive Cancer Center
state: Wisconsin
city: Perth
country: Australia
facility: Princess Margaret Hospital for Children
state: Western Australia
city: Vancouver
country: Canada
facility: British Columbia Children's Hospital
state: British Columbia
city: Halifax
country: Canada
facility: IWK Grace Health Centre
state: Nova Scotia
Study officials:
affiliation: Princess Margaret Hospital for Children
name: Michael L.N. Willoughby, MD
role: STUDY_CHAIR
References:
citation: Uckun FM, Gaynon PS, Stram DO, Sensel MG, Sarquis MB, Willoughby M. Bone marrow leukemic progenitor cell content in pediatric T-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients with an isolated extramedullary first relapse. Leuk Lymphoma. 2001 Jan;40(3-4):279-85. doi: 10.3109/10428190109057926.
citation: Uckun FM, Gaynon PS, Stram DO, Sensel MG, Sarquis MB, Lazarus KH, Willoughby M. Paucity of leukemic progenitor cells in the bone marrow of pediatric B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients with an isolated extramedullary first relapse. Clin Cancer Res. 1999 Sep;5(9):2415-20.