Tendencia mundial de la supervivencia en pacientes pediátricos con leucemia linfoblástica aguda. Revisión de las últimas cuatro décadas.

Background. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common malignancy in childhood. The impact of chemotherapy has resulted in improved survival, although results have not been the same for all countries. methods. We reviewed the available medical literature in Medline on reports of overall and disease-free survival in children with ALL from the late 1970s to 2007. Survival was analyzed according to economic development (developed and developing countries) and according to age, sex, cell type and leukocyte count at diagnosis. Results. In developed countries there has been an increase in overall 5-year survival from 60% in 1984 to 83.5% in 2007 and for diseasefree survival from 48.5% to 83.5%. This was not registered in developing countries where until 2006 the average overall survival and disease-free survival was ~60%. At diagnosis, prognostic factors related with higher survival rates are age (1 to 9 years), sex (females), type of leukemia (B-cell leukemia) and leukocyte count <10,000 mm³. Information regarding survival rates is very scarce. Conclusions. Survival of children with ALL is increasing, particularly disease-free survival rates. Prognostic factors related to survival are age, sex, cell type and leukocyte count. Further studies are needed in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]