Long‐term second remissions in acute lymphatic leukemia

Long‐term second remissions were seen in 5/66 patients with ALL. Relapse was extramedullary in 2/5. Persistent, progressive marrow lymphocytosis preceded relapse in 4/5 patients and persistent marrow eosinophilia in 1/5. All 5 patients had had an unmaintained remission of at least 6 months prior to relapse, and responded the second time to drugs which were essentially the same as those used initially. We conclude that long‐term second remissions may occur in ALL. Patients who relapse after 6 months or more of unmaintained remission should be retreated with the drugs used in current initial induction regimens in hope of cure.

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