Leukemia Research: Advances in Cell Biology and Treatment

Abstract

Progress in the treatment of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia has been remarkable during the past 15 years. Achievement can be quantified by the curability of about 60% of afflicted children; but, as Dr Vincent DeVita stated in his summary comments, "Current studies may be in a rut... perhaps because investigators in this field are victims of their own success." Effective new strategies of future generations of clinical trials must become increasingly dependent on a fuller appreciation and understanding of the biology of this heterogeneous disorder. In view of the plateau that has been reached in clinical trials, it is not surprising that the main strengths of this book are in the chapters on disease biology. It represents the collected presentations of the Proceedings of the International Symposium on Leukemia Cell Biology and Therapy held in May 1982 in celebration of St Jude Children's Research Hospital's 20th anniversary. Recent advances in