Conventional Treatment of Acute Leukemias

**Chapter 8**

**Abstract**

hematological malignancies.

**1. Introduction**

**125**

Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in

Adolescents and Young Adults

*Luara Luz Arana-Luna, Eleazar Hernández-Ruiz, José Luis Alvarez Vera, María Eugenia Espitia Ríos*

*and Juan Manuel Pérez Zúñiga*

*Martha Alvarado-Ibarra, José Antonio De la Peña Celaya,*

When diagnosed with ALL the age group between 18 and 45 years old (AYA, adolescents and young adults) do not have the good prognosis factors generally observed in children with this diagnosis. For a long time, it was undetermined whether they should be treated with continuous and sustained chemotherapy as children or whether receive sustained chemotherapy, but with longer rest periods like old adults. The medical care of adolescents and young adults with neoplastic diseases, grouped between 15 and 45 years of age, became an emerging research field of treatment in hematological diseases. Outcomes have asses complete response disease-free survival, and overall survival as markers of response, with very poor results reported. Relevant challenges have been identified in the AYA group with ALL that have drawn attention to the need to increase research in this

area, particularly in the care of the population under 45 years of age with

**Keywords:** acute lymphoblastic leukemia, remission, relapse, treatment,

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is an oncohematological disease caused by

Another definition of ALL could be a disease caused by an acquired or congenital injury to the hematopoietic cell DNA (the genetic material) developing in the bone marrow, once these cells transform into a leukemic clone multiplies uncontrollably and rapidly in billions of malignant cells called lymphoblasts that prevents the

genetic changes that alter the differentiation and proliferation of lymphocytes, distinguished by the infiltration of bone marrow, blood, and other tissues by neoplastic cells of hematopoietic origin [1]. The pathophysiology of these disease include causes for which, certain genes result affected in their function. Patients could present the following symptomatology: fever, lymphadenopathy, coagulation

disorders, anemia, hepato-splenomegaly, weight loss, among others.

adult young and adolescents, bone marrow transplant
