How I Treat Older Patients with Ph/BCR-ABL-Negative Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Despite advancements in new treatments, management of older patients with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) remains an unmet medical need. With increasing age, ALL patients have a significantly lower CR rate, higher early mortality and relapse rate, and poorer survival compared to younger patients. This is attributed to a higher prevalence of adverse prognostic factors among older individuals and reduced tolerance to chemotherapy. Progress has been made in tailoring moderately intensive chemotherapy protocols for Ph/BCR-ABL (Ph) negative ALL in older patients, and recent phase II studies have explored integrating immunotherapy into initial treatment with very promising results. However, establishing new standard regimens for this age group remains and improving general management strategy is a pending task.