ABSTRACT
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) accounts for 20% of acute leukemias diagnosed in patients over 20 years of age [1]. Although remarkable progress has been made in the treatment of childhood ALL, the prognosis for adults remains much less favorable [2]. Rates of complete remission currently range from 75 to 90% in adults with ALL, but disease-free survival is only 30 to 40% [3]. The inferior outcomes of ALL treatment in adults are due to the higher frequency of adverse genetic abnormalities seen in leukemic lymphoblasts as well as the greater severity of chemotherapy toxicity and higher incidence of comorbidities [4].
