ABSTRACT
Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) accounts for 80% of leukemia in children and is
the most common type of childhood cancer. Although it is a rare disease, 2400 children are
newly diagnosed each year in the U.S., with peak incidence during the preschool period.
Significant improvements in treatment have led to markedly improved survival over the
past four decades. Just 35 years ago, a diagnosis of ALL was almost always fatal. With
treatment advances, long-term event-free survival rates now approach and sometimes
exceed 80% (1,2).
