Correlations of clinical and laboratory data for prognosis in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Correlation of 24 different clinical and laboratory measures was performed for a calculation of the prognosis in 65 children with newly diagnosed acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The hematologic as well as genetic parameters were studied at the time of diagnosis. It was shown that the initial blast count in peripheral blood is the most important risk factor for the prognosis of ALL. Cytogenetic, DNA cytometric, and pedigree data correlate with blast count and also seem to be very important determinants for ALL prognosis. The statistically significant increase in the incidence of neoplasms in ALL families is reported.