Intensive intravenous methotrexate and mercaptopurine treatment of higher-risk non-T, non-B acute lymphocytic leukemia: A Pediatric Oncology Group study.

Abstract

Combined data from this and our previous trial suggest that intensive MTX/MP may produce long-term disease-free survival in 70 to 75% of children with B-lineage ALL. In comparison to other intensive regimens, intensive MTX/MP is easy to administer, effective, and relatively nontoxic. If patients at risk for failure of MTX/MP can be identified prospectively, more aggressive regimens could be restricted to this smaller (25% to 30%) cohort.