Young survivors of childhood cancers are at increased risk of developing subsequent carcinomas typical of later adulthood, underscoring the importance of long-term follow-up and risk-based screening. Follow-up of the cohort is ongoing to determine lifetime risk and delineate individual characteristics that contribute to risk.

The absence of favorable biologic features within ALL-DS contributes to the difference in EFS previously observed between DS and NDS SR-ALL cohorts.

PURPOSE: AALL0932 evaluated two randomized maintenance interventions to optimize disease-free survival (DFS) while reducing the burden of therapy in children with newly diagnosed NCI standard-risk (SR) B-acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL). METHODS: AALL0932 enrolled 9,229 patients with B-ALL; 2,364 average-risk (AR) patients were randomly assigned (2 × 2 factorial design) at the start of maintenance therapy to vincristine/dexamethasone pulses every 4 (VCR/DEX4) or every 12 (VCR/DEX12) weeks, and a starting dose of once weekly oral methotrexate of 20 mg/m2 (MTX20) or 40 mg/m2 (MTX40). RESULTS: Five-year event-free survival and overall survival (OS) from enrollment, for all eligible and evaluable SR B-ALL patients (n = 9,226), were 92.0% (95% CI, 91.1% to 92.8%) and 96.8% (95% CI, 96.2% to 97.3%), respectively. The 5-year DFS and OS from the start of maintenance for randomly assigned AR patients were 94.6% (95% CI, 93.3% to 95.9%) and 98.5% (95% CI, 97.7% to 99.2%), respectively. The 5-year DFS and OS for patients randomly assigned to receive VCR/DEX4 (n = 1,186) versus VCR/DEX12 (n = 1,178) were 94.1% (95% CI, 92.2% to 96.0%) and 98.3% (95% CI, 97.2% to 99.4%) v 95.1% (95% CI, 93.3% to 96.9%) and 98.6% (95% CI, 97.7% to 99.6%), respectively ( P = .86 and .69). The 5-year DFS and OS for AR patients randomly assigned to receive MTX20 versus MTX40 were 95.1% (95% CI, 93.3% to 96.8%) and 98.8% (95% CI, 97.9% to 99.7%) versus 94.2% (95% CI, 92.2% to 96.1%) and 98.1% (95% CI, 97.0% to 99.2%), respectively ( P = .92 and .89). CONCLUSIONS: The NCI-SR AR B-ALL who received VCR/DEX12 had outstanding outcomes despite receiving one third of the vincristine/dexamethasone pulses previously used as standard of care on Children's Oncology Group (COG) trials. The higher starting dose of MTX of 40 mg/m2 once weekly did not improve outcomes when compared with 20 mg/m2 once weekly. The decreased frequency of vincristine/dexamethasone pulses has been incorporated into frontline COG B-ALL trials to decrease the burden of therapy for patients and their families.

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Vertebral fractures (VF) are a frequent complication of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Some children with VF undergo vertebral body reshaping to the point of complete restoration of normal vertebral dimensions. Others are left with permanent vertebral deformity if the degree of reshaping has been incomplete by the time of final adult height attainment. In this report, we describe three children with painful VF at leukemia diagnosis or during chemotherapy. Each patient highlights different clinical trajectories in their recovery from VF and underscores the need for osteoporosis intervention trials with the goal to prevent permanent vertebral deformity in selected patients.

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ObjectiveWe set out to identify and offer genetic testing to the 5%-10% of pediatric cancer patients who have been estimated to carry germline mutations in inherited cancer predisposition syndromes. Clinical genetic testing has become widely available, and thus in busy oncology clinics, tools are needed to identify patients who could benefit from a referral to genetics. MethodsWe studied the clinical utility of administering a family history form in the pediatric oncology long-term follow-up clinic to identify patients who might have an inherited cancer predisposition syndrome. Genetic testing involved primarily Sanger sequencing in clia (Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments)-certified laboratories. ResultsOf 57 patients who completed forms, 19 (33.3%) met criteria for referral to genetics. A significant family history of cancer was present for 4 patients, and 12 patients underwent genetic testing. Of 18 genetic tests ordered, none identified a pathogenic mutation, likely because of a small sample size and a candidate-gene approach to testing. Three families were also identified for further assessment based on a family history of breast cancer, with two of families having members eligible for BRCA1 and BRCA2 testing.Conclusions Genetic testing in pediatric oncology patients is important to guide the management of patients who have an inherited cancer predisposition syndrome and to identify other family members at risk when mutations are identified. When no mutations are identified, that information is often reassuring to families who are worried about siblings. However, in the absence of an identified genetic cause in a patient, some uncertainty remains.

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