Remission, treatment failure, and relapse in pediatric ALL: an international consensus of the Ponte-di-Legno Consortium

• DOI: 10.1182/blood.2021012328
• Publication Date: 2021-07-01T06:25:19Z
• Authors: Swantje Buchmann; Martin Schrappe; Andre Baruchel; Andrea Biondi; Michael Borowitz; Myriam Campbell; Gunnar Cario; Giovanni Cazzaniga; Gabriele Escherich; Christine J. Harr...; Mats Heyman; Stephen P. Hunger; Csongor Kiss; Hsi-Che Liu; Franco Locatelli; Mignon L. Loh; Atsushi Manabe; Georg Mann; Rob Pieters; Ching-Hon Pui; Susana Rives; Kjeld Schmiegelow; Lewis B. Silverman; Jan Stary; Ajay Vora; Patrick Brown
• Keywords: Consensus; Neoplasm, Residual; Remission Induction; Child; Consensus; Humans; Neoplasm, Residual; Pons; Recurrence; Remission Induction; Treatment Failure; Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma;; Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma; 3. Good health; 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; Recurrence; Pons; Humans; Treatment Failure; ALL; Child

Abstract Comparison of treatment strategies in de novo pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) requires standardized measures of efficacy. Key parameters that define disease-related events, including complete remission (CR), treatment failure (TF; not achieving CR), and relapse (loss of CR) require an updated consensus incorporating modern diagnostics. We collected the definitions of CR, TF, and relapse from recent and current pediatric clinical trials for the treatment of ALL, including the key components of response evaluation (timing, anatomic sites, detection methods, and thresholds) and found significant heterogeneity, most notably in the definition of TF. Representatives of the major international ALL clinical trial groups convened to establish consensus definitions. CR should be defined at a time point no earlier than at the end of induction and should include the reduction of blasts below a specific threshold in bone marrow and extramedullary sites, incorporating minimal residual disease (MRD) techniques for marrow evaluations. TF should be defined as failure to achieve CR by a prespecified time point in therapy. Relapse can only be defined in patients who have achieved CR and must include a specific threshold of leukemic cells in the bone marrow confirmed by MRD, the detection of central nervous system leukemia, or documentation of extramedullary disease. Definitions of TF and relapse should harmonize with eligibility criteria for clinical trials in relapsed/refractory ALL. These consensus definitions will enhance the ability to compare outcomes across pediatric ALL trials and facilitate development of future international collaborative trials.