Dr. Larsen Discusses Outcomes for AYA ALL Patients

Eric Larsen, MD, medical director of the Maine Children's Cancer Program, discusses a large phase III study that compared outcomes between adolescent and young adult (AYA) and younger patients with high-risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia (HR-ALL).

The study included 501 AYA patients, who were defined as those being age 16 to 30, and 466 younger patients age 1 to 15. Larsen notes that the power of this study was its ability to enroll enough patients to produce a statistically significant outcome.

In general, the AYA patients demonstrated worse outcomes, more relapses, and lower rates of both event-free and overall survival. Additionally, Larsen notes these patients had a very high rate of remission deaths, which he defines as a death that is unrelated to the HR-ALL, during remission, while continuing the therapy.

Larsen believes these findings point to the need for new strategies that reduce relapses and toxicities for the AYA group of patients.