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R D Gelber

Publications and source records attributed to R D Gelber.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

First--select the target: better choice of adjuvant treatments for breast cancer patients.

St Gallen Expert Consensus meetings update evidence on treatment of early breast cancer every 2 years and interpret its significance for treatment of individual patients. Such interpretation is controversial. Clinical decisions cannot, however, be postponed, and the harms of failing to tailor treatment must be balanced against those of overinterpretation. Since the ninth meeting in January 2005, an extraordinary year of progress has significantly changed the landscape in breast cancer therapy. The panel in January recommended a fundamental change in selection of adjuvant systemic therapy, giving prime attention to endocrine responsiveness. Primarily, three categories were acknowledged: endocrine responsive in which the primary treatment should be endocrine, endocrine non-responsive in which endocrine therapy should not be used, and an intermediate group for which both endocrine and other therapies should be offered. Secondarily, three risk groups were defined: low, intermediate, and high, slightly modifying the previous classification. In June 2005, three trials, supported in December by a fourth, demonstrated the additional contribution of targeted therapy with trastuzumab in appropriately selected patients. Reports from several trials strengthened the evidence supporting the inclusion of taxanes, though controversy persists concerning their use in endocrine-responsive disease. This commentary midway between St Gallen meetings, therefore, emphasizes how new information influences algorithms for selecting adjuvant therapy in a rapidly changing environment.

Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal↗
PubMed2006

Identifying breast cancer patients at risk for Central Nervous System (CNS) metastases in trials of the International Breast Cancer Study Group (IBCSG).

BACKGROUND: We sought to determine whether a high-risk group could be defined among patients with operable breast cancer in whom a search of occult central nervous system (CNS) metastases was justified. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We evaluated data from 9524 women with early breast cancer (42% node-negative) who were randomized in International Breast Cancer Study Group clinical trials between 1978 and 1999, and treated without anthracyclines, taxanes, or trastuzumab. We identified patients whose site of first event was CNS and those who had a CNS event at any time. RESULTS: Median follow-up was 13 years. The 10-year incidence (10-yr) of CNS relapse was 5.2% (1.3% as first recurrence). Factors predictive of CNS as first recurrence included: node-positive disease (10-yr = 2.2% for > 3 N+), estrogen receptor-negative (2.3%), tumor size > 2 cm (1.7%), tumor grade 3 (2.0%), < 35 years old (2.2%), HER2-positive (2.7%), and estrogen receptor-negative and node-positive (2.6%). The risk of subsequent CNS recurrence was elevated in patients experiencing lung metastases (10-yr = 16.4%). CONCLUSION: Based on this large cohort we were able to define risk factors for CNS metastases, but could not define a group at sufficient risk to justify routine screening for occult CNS metastases.

Breast Neoplasms↗
PubMed2005

Meeting highlights: international expert consensus on the primary therapy of early breast cancer 2005.

The ninth St Gallen (Switzerland) expert consensus meeting in January 2005 made a fundamental change in the algorithm for selection of adjuvant systemic therapy for early breast cancer. Rather than the earlier approach commencing with risk assessment, the Panel affirmed that the first consideration was endocrine responsiveness. Three categories were acknowledged: endocrine responsive, endocrine non-responsive and tumors of uncertain endocrine responsiveness. The three categories were further divided according to menopausal status. Only then did the Panel divide patients into low-, intermediate- and high-risk categories. It agreed that axillary lymph node involvement did not automatically define high risk. Intermediate risk included both node-negative disease (if some features of the primary tumor indicated elevated risk) and patients with one to three involved lymph nodes without additional high-risk features such as HER 2/neu gene overexpression. The Panel recommended that patients be offered chemotherapy for endocrine non-responsive disease; endocrine therapy as the primary therapy for endocrine responsive disease, adding chemotherapy for some intermediate- and all high-risk groups in this category; and both chemotherapy and endocrine therapy for all patients in the uncertain endocrine response category except those in the low-risk group.

Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal↗
PubMed2005

Timing of CMF chemotherapy in combination with tamoxifen in postmenopausal women with breast cancer: role of endocrine responsiveness of the tumor.

BACKGROUND: Controversy persists about whether chemotherapy benefits all breast cancer patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In the International Breast Cancer Study Group (IBCSG) trial VII, 1212 postmenopausal patients with node-positive disease were randomized to receive tamoxifen for 5 years or tamoxifen plus three concurrent courses of cyclophosphamide, methotrexate and 5-fluorouracil ('classical' CMF) chemotherapy, either early, delayed or both. In IBCSG trial IX, 1669 postmenopausal patients with node-negative disease were randomized to receive either tamoxifen alone or three courses of adjuvant classical CMF prior to tamoxifen. Results were assessed according to estrogen receptor (ER) content of the primary tumor. RESULTS: For patients with node-positive, ER-positive disease, adding CMF either early, delayed or both reduced the risk of relapse by 21% (P=0.06), 26% (P=0.02) and 25% (P=0.02), respectively, compared with tamoxifen alone. There was no difference in disease-free survival when CMF was given prior to tamoxifen in patients with node-negative, ER-positive tumors. CONCLUSIONS: CMF given concurrently (early, delayed or both) with tamoxifen was more effective than tamoxifen alone for patients with node-positive, endocrine-responsive breast cancer, supporting late administration of chemotherapy even after commencement of tamoxifen. In contrast, sequential CMF and tamoxifen for patients with node-negative, endocrine-responsive disease was ineffective.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Quantifying trade-offs: quality of life and quality-adjusted survival in a randomised trial of chemotherapy in postmenopausal patients with lymph node-negative breast cancer.

We evaluated quality of life (QL) and quality-adjusted survival in International Breast Cancer Study Group Trial IX, a randomised trial including 1669 eligible patients receiving tamoxifen for 5 years or three prior cycles of cyclophosphamide, methotrexate and 5-fluorouracil (CMF) followed by 57 months tamoxifen. During the time with CMF toxicity (Tox), without symptoms and toxicity (TWiST), and following relapse (Rel), patients scored their QL indicators and a utility indicator for subjective health estimation between 'perfect' and 'worst' health. Scores were averaged within Tox, TWiST and Rel and transformed to utilities. Mean durations for the three transition times were weighted with utilities to obtain mean quality-adjusted TWiST (Q-TWiST). Patients receiving CMF reported significantly worse scores for most QL domains at month 3, but less hot flushes. After completing chemotherapy, there were no differences by treatment groups. Benefits evaluated by Q-TWiST favoured the additional chemotherapy. CMF provided 3 more months of Q-TWiST for patients with ER-negative tumours, but CMF provided no benefit in Q-TWiST for patients with ER-positive tumours. Q-TWiST analysis based on patient ratings is feasible in large-scale cross-cultural clinical trials.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Body mass index as a prognostic feature in operable breast cancer: the International Breast Cancer Study Group experience.

BACKGROUND: Current information on the prognostic importance of body mass index (BMI) for patients with early breast cancer is based on a variety of equivocal reports. Few have data on BMI in relationship to systemic treatment. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients (6792) were randomized to International Breast Cancer Study Group trials from 1978 to 1993, studying chemotherapy and endocrine therapy. BMI was evaluated with eight other factors: menopausal status, nodal status, estrogen receptor status, progesterone receptor status, tumor size, vessel invasion, tumor grade and treatment. BMI was categorized as normal (< or =24.9), intermediate (25.0-29.9) or obese (> or =30.0). RESULTS: Patients with normal BMI had significantly longer overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) than patients with intermediate or obese BMI in pairwise comparisons adjusted for other factors. Subset analyses showed the same effect in pre- and perimenopausal patients and in those receiving chemotherapy alone. When assessed globally and adjusted for other factors, BMI significantly influenced OS (P = 0.03) but not DFS (P = 0.12). CONCLUSIONS: BMI is an independent prognostic factor for OS in patients with breast cancer, especially among pre-/perimenopausal patients treated with chemotherapy without endocrine therapy.

Aged↗
PubMed2003

Risk factors for locoregional recurrence among breast cancer patients: results from International Breast Cancer Study Group Trials I through VII.

PURPOSE: To explore prognostic factors for locoregional failures (LRF) among women treated for invasive breast cancer within clinical trials of adjuvant therapies. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study population consisted of 5,352 women who were treated with a modified radical mastectomy and enrolled in one of seven International Breast Cancer Study Group randomized trials. A total of 1,275 women with node-negative disease received either no adjuvant therapy or a single cycle of perioperative chemotherapy, and 4,077 women with node-positive disease received adjuvant chemotherapy of at least 3 months' duration and/or tamoxifen. Median follow-up is 12 to 15.5 years. RESULTS: In women with node-negative disease, factors associated with increased risk of LRF were vascular invasion (VI) and tumor size greater than 2 cm for premenopausal and VI for postmenopausal patients. Of the 1,275 patients, 345 (27%) met criteria for the highest risk groups, and the 10-year cumulative incidences of LRF with or without distant metastases were 16% for premenopausal and 19% for postmenopausal women. For the node-positive cohort, number of nodes and tumor grade were factors for both menopausal groups, with additional prediction provided by VI for premenopausal and tumor size for postmenopausal patients. Of the 4,077 patients, 815 (20%) met criteria for the highest risk groups, and 10-year cumulative incidences were 35% for premenopausal and 34% for postmenopausal women. CONCLUSION: LRFs are a significant problem after mastectomy alone even for some patients with node-negative breast cancer, as well as after mastectomy and adjuvant treatment for some subgroups of patients with node-positive disease. In addition to number of positive lymph nodes, predictors of LRF include tumor-related factors, such as vascular invasion, higher grade, and larger size.

Breast Neoplasms↗
PubMed2003

Comments on the St. Gallen Consensus 2003 on the Primary Therapy of Early Breast Cancer.

This final paper of the proceedings of the recent Eighth St. Gallen Conference 2003 on the Primary Therapy of Early Breast Cancer comments on the Consensus Paper put forth by the international expert panel and emphasizes new information, that has emerged during the 2 years since the seventh such meeting in 2001. More than 3200 breast cancer specialists from various medical fields-coming from 75 countries and all six continents-have attended the meeting and the process of scientific consensus development. Recommendations for patient care are so critically dependent on assessment of endocrine responsiveness that the importance of high-quality steroid hormone receptor determination and standardized quantitative reporting cannot be overemphasized. The Panel modified and simplified the risk categories so that only endocrine receptor-absent status was sufficient to reclassify an otherwise low-risk, node-negative disease into the category of average risk. Absence of steroid hormone receptors was also recognized as indicating endocrine non-responsiveness. Some important areas highlighted especially in the 2003 consensus include: recognition of the separate nature of endocrine non-responsive breast cancer, both invasive cancers and ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS); improved understanding of the mechanisms of acquired endocrine resistance, offering exciting prospects for extending the impact of successful sequential endocrine therapies; presentation of high-quality evidence indicating that chemotherapy and tamoxifen should be used sequentially rather than concurrently; availability of a potential alternative to tamoxifen for treatment of postmenopausal women with endocrine responsive disease; promise of newly defined prognostic and predictive markers.

Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal↗
PubMed2003

Preoperative systemic treatment: prediction of responsiveness.

The use of predictive factors allows a more effective use of available therapies by enabling clinicians to distinguish patients likely to obtain substantial benefit from treatment from those for whom the same therapy is less likely to be effective. A most relevant aspect of clinical research is thus to develop alternative therapeutic approaches which are more efficacious for this latter group, particularly important since treatment effects are likely to be small. In the preoperative setting several predictors of response were identified. They include: diameter of the lesion (larger lesions respond less than smaller lesions), MIB-1 increased expression associated with increased response to chemotherapy, and estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PgR) expression in the tumor typically associated with increased response to endocrine therapies. Other factors include HER-2/neu overexpression, which is a target for treatment with the humanized monoclonal antibody against its extracellular domain, is hypothesized to increase response to anthracycline combination chemotherapy and to lead to an improved response to some endocrine agents (e.g. letrozole) rather than to others. Although primary endocrine therapy demonstrated activity and low profile of side effects in selected populations of older patients, it is infrequently used. On the other hand, chemotherapy remains the mainstay of treatment being considered to be a more active and better documented option. Experience at the European Institute of Oncology on 399 patients with large or locally advanced breast cancer (cT2-T4, N0-2, M0) treated with primary chemotherapy, indicated that a proper selection of primary treatment should be based on tumor characteristics such as ER and PgR status. In particular, patients with tumors with no ER and PgR expression (endocrine-unresponsive disease) at the baseline core-biopsy had a significantly higher response rate to chemotherapy if compared with tumors with some ER/PgR expression. In fact, the absence of ER and PgR expression was the strongest predictors of pCR at the multivariate analysis (P<0.0001). Information on endocrine responsiveness before primary systemic therapy will lead to better tailoring of treatment modalities, thus avoiding chemotherapy in selected populations where other approaches (e.g. endocrine primary therapy) might be more useful.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Tailoring adjuvant treatments for the individual breast cancer patient.

BACKGROUND: Chemotherapy, tamoxifen and ovarian function suppression have all demonstrated their effectiveness for treating women with early breast cancer. Treatment selection for individual patients, however, requires estimates on the magnitude of treatment effects to be achieved from the application of each modality. Unfortunately, information currently available is insufficient to properly tailor adjuvant treatments. METHODS: We consider predictive factors to improve our understanding about selection of adjuvant therapies, reassessment of data from previous clinical trials and design of future studies. RESULTS: Estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PgR) are the primary measures available today to tailor adjuvant therapies. Patient age/menopausal status (ability to obtain treatment effects via ovarian function suppression), measures of the metastatic potential of the tumor (such as number of positive axillary lymph nodes), and concurrent use of chemotherapy and tamoxifen are other factors that modify the magnitude of relative effect associated with chemotherapy and endocrine therapies. The Subpopulation Treatment Effect Pattern Plots (STEPP) method displays the patterns of treatment effects within randomized clinical trials or datasets from meta-analyses to identify features that predict responsiveness to the treatments under study without relying on retrospective subset analysis. Confirmation of hypotheses using independent clinical trial databases is recommended. DISCUSSION: All findings from clinical trials and meta-analyses should be presented primarily according to steroid hormone receptor status and patient age. Future studies should be designed as tailored treatment investigations, with endocrine therapies evaluated within populations of patients with endocrine responsive tumors, and chemotherapy questions focused within populations of patients with endocrine nonresponsive disease.

Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal↗
PubMed2003

Systemic treatments for women with breast cancer: outcome with relation to screening for the disease.

Early detection and proper care of breast cancer are currently the best available approaches to the treatment of patients with the disease. In countries with a breast cancer screening programme, there has been a demonstrated reduction in breast cancer-related mortality. Such reduction has also been observed in Switzerland, a country in which no national programme of screening is available. Although there is no doubt that early diagnosis might have had a major role in reducing breast cancer mortality the magnitude of this effect is unknown. Research with tailored approaches on alternative imaging for early detection of breast cancer in high-risk women and on treatments offered according to proper criteria of responsiveness to therapies is warranted.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Duration of adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer: a joint analysis of two randomised trials investigating three versus six courses of CMF.

Cyclophosphamide, methotrexate and fluorouracil adjuvant combination chemotherapy for breast cancer is currently used for the duration of six monthly courses. We performed a joint analysis of two studies on the duration of adjuvant cyclophosphamide, methotrexate and fluorouracil in patients with node-positive breast cancer to investigate whether three courses of cyclophosphamide, methotrexate and fluorouracil might suffice. The International Breast Cancer Study Group Trial VI randomly assigned 735 pre- and perimenopausal patients to receive 'classical' cyclophosphamide, methotrexate and fluorouracil for three consecutive cycles, or the same chemotherapy for six consecutive cycles. The German Breast Cancer Study Group randomised 289 patients to receive either three or six cycles of i.v. cyclophosphamide, methotrexate and fluorouracil day 1, 8. Treatment effects were estimated using Cox regression analysis stratified by clinical trial without further adjustment for covariates. The 5-year disease-free survival per cents (+/-s.e.) were 54+/-2% for three cycles and 55+/-2% for six cycles (n=1024; risk ratio (risk ratio: CMFx3/CMFx6), 1.00; 95% confidence interval, 0.85 to 1.18; P=0.99). Use of three rather than six cycles was demonstrated to be adequate in both studies for patients at least 40-years-old with oestrogen-receptor-positive tumours (n=594; risk ratio, 0.86; 95% confidence interval, 0.68 to 1.08; P=0.19). In fact, results slightly favoured three cycles over six for this subgroup, and the 95% confidence interval excluded an adverse effect of more than 2% with respect to absolute 5-year survival. In contrast, three cycles appeared to be possibly inferior to six cycles for women less than 40-years-old (n=190; risk ratio, 1.25; 95% confidence interval, 0.87 to 1.80; P=0.22) and for women with oestrogen-receptor-negative tumours (n=302; risk ratio, 1.15; 95% confidence interval, 0.85 to 1.57; P=0.37). Thus, three initial cycles of adjuvant cyclophosphamide, methotrexate and fluorouracil chemotherapy were as effective as six cycles for older patients (40-years-old) with oestrogen-receptor-positive tumours, while six cycles of adjuvant cyclophosphamide, methotrexate and fluorouracil might still be required for other cohorts. Because endocrine therapy with tamoxifen and GnRH analogues is now available for younger women with oestrogen-receptor-positive tumours, the need for six cycles of cyclophosphamide, methotrexate and fluorouracil is unclear and requires further investigation.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Influence of endocrine-related factors on response to perioperative chemotherapy for patients with node-negative breast cancer.

PURPOSE: We investigated tumor- and patient-related features that might influence the response to perioperative chemotherapy (PeCT) compared with no adjuvant therapy for patients with node-negative breast cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 1,275 patients were randomized to either no adjuvant treatment (427 patients) or PeCT (848 patients). The following variables thought to have prognostic significance were evaluated: grade, tumor size, estrogen (ER) and progesterone receptor (PgR) content (absent; low, 1 to 9 fmol/mg cytosol protein; or positive, > or = 10 fmol/mg cytosol protein), c-erbB-2 overexpression, menopausal status, and age. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to assess the relative influence of these factors to predict the effect of PeCT on disease-free survival (DFS). Median follow-up was 13.5 years. RESULTS: The 10-year DFS percentage for 692 premenopausal patients did not significantly differ between the PeCT and no-adjuvant-treatment groups: 61% and 59%, respectively (relative risk [RR], 0.95; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.75 to 1.20; P = .70). No predictive factors were identified. For 583 postmenopausal patients, 10-year DFS percentages for the groups were 63% and 58%, respectively (RR, 0.75; 95% CI, 0.58 to 0.93; P = .03). The absence of expression of ER, PgR, or both ER and PgR was the most important factor predicting improved outcome with PeCT among postmenopausal patients. The 10-year DFS percentages were 85% and 53% for the steroid hormone receptor-absent cohort of treated and untreated patients, respectively (RR, 0.18; 95% CI, 0.06 to 0.49; P = .0009). CONCLUSION: The role of PeCT should be explored for patients whose primary tumors do not express steroid hormone receptors, because it is likely that early initiation of treatment is exclusively relevant for such patients.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Polychemotherapy for early breast cancer: an overview of the randomised clinical trials with quality-adjusted survival analysis.

BACKGROUND: Overview analysis involving 18000 women with breast cancer in 47 randomised trials showed that prolonged chemotherapy significantly reduces the risk of relapse and death compared with no chemotherapy. Here we express the size of the benefit in terms of quality-adjusted survival time gained. METHODS: We used the Q-TWiST method (Quality-adjusted Time Without Symptoms of disease and Toxicity of treatment) to provide treatment comparisons within 10 years' follow-up, incorporating differences in quality of life associated with times patients spend with chemotherapy toxic effects, after relapse, and without symptoms of relapse or toxicity. FINDINGS: Within 10 years' follow-up the benefit of increased relapse-free and overall survival for younger women (<50 years old) who received polychemotherapy balanced the burdens in terms of acute toxic side-effects, especially among women enrolled in trials that did not include tamoxifen. Overall, chemotherapy-treated younger women gained an average of 10.3 months of relapse-free survival and 5.4 months of overall survival within 10 years (p<0.0001 for both) compared with the no-chemotherapy group. Polychemotherapy provided more quality-adjusted time than control across nearly all values of utility weights for time spent undergoing chemotherapy and time after relapse. The range of benefit was from -0.6 to 10.3 months. For older women (50-69 years) overall, polychemotherapy also provided significant benefit compared with no chemotherapy but, compared with younger women, the size of benefit was less and the range of utility-weight values favouring polychemotherapy was smaller. Average gains for older women treated with polychemotherapy (with or without tamoxifen) were 6.8 months of relapse-free survival (p<0.0001) and 2.9 months of overall survival (p=0.0001) within 10 years. The range of quality-adjusted benefit was -3.1 to 6.8 months. For older women with oestrogen-receptor-poor tumours who did not receive tamoxifen (9% of the total), the benefit of polychemotherapy was significant and similar to that observed for younger women. INTERPRETATION: The benefits of adjuvant chemotherapy within 10 years outweigh the burdens especially for younger women (<50 years old) and among older women (50-69 years) to a lesser degree. Additional studies to compare the quality-adjusted survival of chemotherapy plus endocrine therapy versus endocrine therapy alone are required for younger patients with tumours that express steroid-hormone receptors.

Aged↗
PubMed2001

Excellent therapeutic efficacy and minimal late neurotoxicity in children treated with 18 grays of cranial radiation therapy for high-risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia: a 7-year follow-up study of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Consortium Protocol 87-01.

BACKGROUND: In the current study, the authors evaluated late neuropsychologic effects 7 years after diagnosis and the long-term survival in a cohort of patients treated for high-risk childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) with cranial radiation therapy. Efficacy and toxicity were evaluated in relation to patient age at diagnosis (age < or > or = 36 months). METHODS: Two hundred and one patients treated for high-risk ALL on the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Consortium Protocol 87-01 were included, 147 of whom were in continuous complete disease remission and were eligible for cognitive testing. Sixty-one patients consented to undergo testing. All patients received 18 grays (Gy) of cranial radiation as a component of central nervous system treatment. RESULTS: For all 201 patients, the 5-year overall survival (% +/- the standard error) was 82% +/- 2 and the 5-year event-free survival (% +/- the standard error) was 75% +/- 3. Only two patients developed a central nervous system recurrence. Intelligence quotient (IQ) and memory were at the expected mean for age, but performance on a complex figure drawing task was found to be reduced. Children who were age < 36 months at the time of diagnosis were found to have an IQ in the average range, but showed verbal deficits. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the current study demonstrate excellent efficacy of therapy and relatively limited late neurotoxicity on a childhood ALL therapy protocol in which all evaluated patients had received 18 Gy of cranial radiation. Efficacious therapy that includes cranial radiation does not appear to necessarily incur a heightened risk for significant cognitive impairment.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Bony morbidity in children treated for acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

PURPOSE: Corticosteroids are widely used in the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). To determine the frequency of corticosteroid-associated bony morbidity in children with ALL, we retrospectively evaluated the incidence of fractures and osteonecrosis (ON) on two consecutive pediatric ALL protocols. PATIENTS AND METHODS: One hundred seventy-six consecutive children were treated for ALL between 1987 and 1995 at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Children's Hospital. Prednisone was used as the corticosteroid during postremission therapy from 1987 to 1991, and dexamethasone was used from 1991 to 1995. Medical records for all patients were reviewed to assess the occurrence of fractures and ON. RESULTS: With a median follow-up of 7.6 years, the 5-year cumulative incidence (CI) +/- SE of any bony morbidity for the 176 patients was 30% +/- 4%, with a 5-year CI of fractures of 28% +/- 3% and of ON of 7% +/- 2%. With multivariate analysis, independent predictors of bony morbidity included age 9 to 18 years at diagnosis (P <.01), male sex (P <.01), and treatment with dexamethasone (P =.01). Dexamethasone was associated with a higher risk of fractures (5-year CI, 36% +/- 5% v 20% +/- 4% with prednisone; P =.04), but not ON (P =.40). The 5-year event-free survival for the 176 patients was 79% +/- 3%. CONCLUSION: Children treated for ALL had a high incidence of fractures and ON. Older children, boys, and patients receiving dexamethasone were at increased risk for the development of bony morbidity. Future studies should attempt to minimize corticosteroid-associated bony morbidity without compromising clinical efficacy.

Adolescent↗