Abstract
Bilateral testicular biopsies were performed on 708 males with acute lymphoblastic leukemia completing 24 to 30 months of maintenance chemotherapy in continuous remission. The 73 patients (10.3%) with occult testicular leukemia (TL) had a significantly increased risk of subsequent relapse (P = .0001) and death (P < .0001) when compared with patients with negative biopsies. Protocol-specified therapy for occult TL included reinduction therapy with concurrent bilateral testicular radiation, and 2 years of maintenance therapy. Four-year event-free survival for patients with negative biopsies was 78.2% ± 4% versus 65% ± 14% for patients with occult TL who received protocol-specified therapy (P = .05). This study suggests that (1) occult TL occurs in 10% of males completing 2 years of maintenance therapy; (2) occult TL significantly increases risk for subsequent relapse and death; (3) treatment results for occult TL and isolated overt off therapy TL (no previous biopsy) are similar; and (4) given current therapy, documentation of occult TL after 2 years of therapy does not improve disease-free survival.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1051-1055 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Blood |
Volume | 75 |
Issue number | 5 |
State | Published - Mar 1 1990 |
Externally published | Yes |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biochemistry
- Immunology
- Hematology
- Cell Biology