No abstract

Acute leukemias are the most common diagnostic group of childhood cancer. This review summarizes the published literature on reported current outcomes of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) from India. Overall survival in ALL ranged from 45% to 81% (commonly >60%) and event-free survival ranged from 41% to 70% (commonly >50%). Outcome data for AML was patchy with varying duration of follow-up, but it can be inferred that 50–80% of treated patients had experienced an event (toxic death, refractory disease or relapse). It is imperative that going forward focus should be on collaborative efforts, which promote treatment of patients on risk-stratified adapted protocols based on local infrastructure, improvement in supportive care and encourage prospective multi-center clinical trials.

The utilization of adapted regimens for the treatment of pediatric malignancies has greatly improved clinical outcomes for children receiving treatment in low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMIC). Nutritional depletion has been associated with poorer outcomes, increased abandonment of therapy, and treatment‐related toxicities. Surveys have found that nutritional intervention is not incorporated routinely into supportive care regimens. Establishing nutritional programs based upon institutional resources may facilitate the incorporation of nutritional therapy into clinical care in a way that is feasible in all settings. We present a framework for establishing and monitoring of nutritional care based on the infrastructure of institutions in LMIC.

Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is a highly malignant tumor which is thought to originate from the pluripotent mesenchyme. It is the most common soft-tissue sarcoma of childhood. This review article summarizes the recent and older published literature and gives an overview of management of RMS in children. RMS can arise in a wide variety of primary sites, some of which are associated with specific patterns of local invasion, regional lymph nodal spread, therapeutic response and long term outcome, hence requiring physicians to be familiar with site-specific staging and treatment details. Most common primary sites include the head and neck region, genitourinary tract, and extremities. Prognosis for children and adolescents with RMS has recently improved substantially, especially for patients with local or locally extensive disease because of the development of multi-modal therapy incorporating surgery, dose-intensive combination chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. Despite aggressive approaches the outcome for patients who present with metastatic disease remains unsatisfactory. Clinical trials are ongoing to reduce toxicity and improve outcomes of such patients; newer agents in combination are being investigated.

CD73 and CD86 are the most relevant markers to incorporate in the routine MRD evaluation of BCPALL. © 2016 International Clinical Cytometry Society.