LEUKOCYTE ALKALINE PHOSPHATASE IN CHRONIC GRANULOCYTIC LEUKEMIA OF CHILDHOOD

Subacute and chronic myelomonocytic leukemia in children (juvenile CML). Clinical and hematologic observations, and identification of prognostic factors

The clinical and hematologic characteristics of 38 children with subacute and chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (S & CMMOL) are described, and the prognostic significance of these characteristics as recorded at diagnosis is reported. The common and distinctive feature of these children was the excessive proliferation of cells of neutrophilic and monocytic series. The disease predominated in younger children, 95% were younger than 4 years, and boys were more affected than girls (22/16). The onset of the disease was heralded most often by acute or subacute symptoms. Splenomegaly was the most common physical finding at diagnosis. Leukocytosis was usually under 100 X 10(9)/l. Monocytosis and granulocytosis were often associated with normoblastosis, and, in some cases, with moderate blastosis (less than or equal to 30%). Severe anemia and marked thrombocytopenia were found in about one third of patients, increased fetal hemoglobin levels in 53%, and increased gamma-globulin levels in 50% of cases. The Philadelphia chromosome was absent in all blood and marrow cell karyotypes. Thirty-three of 38 patients were treated with moderate or intensive chemotherapy, and in all cases treatment never resulted in a complete remission. Terminal acute leukemia occurred in 11 cases. Of the 38 patients, 29 have died (median survival time, 16 months). Initial characteristics predicting a short survival (log-rank test) included: older age (greater than or equal to 2 years) (P less than 0.001), hepatomegaly (P less than 0.05), bleeding (P less than 0.001), thrombocytopenia (P less than 0.01), high counts of blasts and normoblasts in peripheral blood (P less than 0.01, P less than 0.01). Sex, infections, cutaneous manifestations, lymphadenopathy, degree of splenomegaly, hemoglobin levels, fetal hemoglobin, leukocyte counts, percent of blasts in bone marrow, and serum gamma-globulin levels were of no prognostic value. When survival was plotted on a semilogarithmic scale, a change in death rate was evident at the second year of survival suggesting that there may be two subgroups of patients with myelomonocytic picture, one with very rapid, and another with a slower rate of mortality. A stepwise discriminant-function analysis was performed in an attempt to distinguish between those children who lived less than or equal to 2 years and those who lived longer. A linear combination of variables which best discriminated between these two subgroups was found. Nearly all patients could be classified as a short-survivor or long-survivor on the basis of age and platelet, blast, and normoblast counts in peripheral blood.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myelocytic leukemia in children. Survival and prognostic factors

The survival and the prognostic significance of the diagnostic characteristics of 39 children with Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myelocytic leukemia (Ph1-positive CML), seen between 1963-1976 at the Hôpital Saint-Louis of Paris, have been analyzed. The disease predominated in children older than age 4 years (95%), with girls being more affected than boys (24 versus 15). The clinical and hematological picture at presentation was similar to that observed in adults with Ph1-positive CML. Most children of this series were treated with busulfan which, as in adults, led to reduction of leucocytosis and organomegaly but did not prevent the occurrence of blastic crisis. Well-documented blastic crisis was observed in 78% of cases. Of 39 children, 12 were still alive, all in the chronic phase. Twenty-seven have died, 21 of them after blastic crisis, 4-156 months after diagnosis (median survival, 53 months). The effect of each diagnostic characteristic on survival was evaluated using the log-rank test. Of the 14 characteristics studied, only the degree of blood and marrow blastosis was associated with a shorter survival. Age, sex, bleeding, lymphadenopathy, hepatomegaly, degree of splenomegaly, hemoglobin level, total leucocyte, immature granulocyte (promyelocytes + myelocytes + metamyelocytes), eosinophil, basophil, and platelet counts in the peripheral blood were of no prognostic significance. The failure to attain a level of statistical significance for some characteristics found to be of prognostic value for adults, could be due to the small sample size and/or to the disease homogeneity. The results of this study, however, stress the importance of the initial blastic infiltration in determining the duration of survival, which is ultimately determined by the occurrence of terminal acute leukemia. In conclusion, this study shows that the Ph1-positive CML of childhood exhibits the same course, incidence of blastic crisis, and survival as the disease of adults. It also indicates that treatment with moderate chemotherapy, such as busulfan, has no effect on the duration of survival. Therefore, new therapeutic approaches are urgently needed for the treatment of this disorder in children.