Comparison of Risk Grouping Methods for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in Children

Four criteria for the risk grouping of children's acute lymphoblasticleukemia: Children's Cancer and Leukemia Study Group (CCLSG)in Japan, Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) and Children's CancerStudy Group (CCG-141) in the USA, Berlin-Frankfurt-Munster StudyGroup (BFM) in West Germany, were applied retrospectively to109 patients with the disease who had been treated randomlyin Sapporo National Hospital from 1978 to 1986. No significantdifference in respect of survival curve was found in most combinationsbetween low-and intermediate-risk groups, nor among either low-or intermediate-risk groups (P>0.10, Cox-Mantel's test).Among the four high-risk groups formed by the application ofthese criteria, no significant difference was noted (P>0.10),but there were significant differences between the high-riskand the low- or intermediate-risk groups (P<0.05 or 0.10).With such results, a comparison of therapeutic results in high-riskgroups yielded by different study groups would appear to benot only possible but useful, for example, in improving therapeuticmethods.